.M.C. 


TORY  OF  THE  GREAT  ROCKIES 


RLOTTE  M.VAILE 


THE  M.  M.  C. 


BOOKS  BY  CHARLOTTE  M.  VAILE. 


THE  ORCUTT  GIRLS ;  or,  One  Term  at  the 
Academy.  315  pages.  With  five  full-page 
Illustrations  by  FRANK  T.  MERRILL.  Cloth. 
lamo.  $1.50. 

SUE  ORCUTT.  A  Sequel  to  "  The  Orcutt 
Girls."  335  pages.  With  five  full-page  Illus- 
trations by  FRANK  T.  MERRILL.  Cloth. 

I2IT10.      jll.50. 

THE  M.  M.  C.  A  Story  of  the  Great  Rockies. 
232  pages.  With  six  full-page  Illustrations  by 
SEARS  GALLAGHER.  Cloth.  8vo.  $1.25. 


THE  OLD  MAN  STOOD  ALONF  ON  THE    ROCKY  SLOPE." 


THE  M.  M.  C. 


A  STORY  OF  THE  GREAT  ROCKIES 


BY 


CHARLOTTE   M.   VAILE 

AUTHOR  OF  "THE  ORCUTT  GIRLS,"   "SUE  ORCUTT' 
ETC.,   ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED  BY 

SEARS   GALLAGHER 


BOSTON  AND  CHICAGO 
W.  A.   WILDE   COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,  1898, 
BY  W.  A.  WILDE  COMPANY. 

All  rights  reserved. 
THE  M.  M.  a 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  ON  THE  EVE  OF  FLIGHT 9 

II.  CAGED 34 

III.  DANGER  AHEAD 58 

IV.  LEX  MAKES  A  THIRD  AT  AN  INTERESTING  CON- 

FERENCE    76 

V.    IN  LEAGUE  FOR  DEFENCE 96 

VI.    WAITING  FOR  TIDINGS 120 

VII.    NEWS,  BUT  NOT  LEX 143 

VIII.    THE  MISSING  BOY 162 

IX.    ONE  MORE  EFFORT 187 

X.    AT  LAST 214 


2072228 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

"  The  old  man  stood  alone  on  the  rocky  slope  " 

Frontispiece      32 

"  Her  cousin  .  .  .  was  in  the  breakfast  room  before 

her,  his  hands  stretching  out  to  the  fire  "   .        -36 

"  Seating  himself  at  the  table,  he  fell  to  work  "         .       79 

"  There  was  a  group  of  them  around  a  rusty  old 

stove" 133 

"In  the  moonlight  he  saw  a  tall  man  crossing  the 

threshold" 174 

"  He  leaned  easily  back  in  his  chair  and  waited  for 

her  to  go  on  " 202 


THE   M.  M.  C. 

of  tfjc  ©reat  Bodms. 


CHAPTER    I. 

ON    THE    EVE    OF   FLIGHT. 

"IF  I'm  not  back  at  supper  time,  don't 

wait  for  me.     It's  my  last  tramp,  you 

know,  and  I  must  make  the  most  of  it." 

The  girl  who  said  it  stood  for  a  mo- 
ment in  the  doorway  of  a  cottage  conspic- 
uous for  its  spruce  appearance  in  the 
crowded  line  which  made  up  the  main 
street  of  Silvercrest,  then  stepped  briskly 
out  into  the  afternoon  sunshine. 

A  pretty  woman  with  a  delicate  face 
and  bright  dark  eyes  looked  after  her 
wistfully.  She  did  not  strike  one  as  the 
sort  of  person  who  would  herself  enjoy 

9 


IO  THE  M.  M.   C. 

tramping.  "  Oh,  if  you  must  go ! "  she 
said.  "  But  don't  spread  your  wings  when 
you  get  above  timber-line  and  fly  away 
home  without  a  good  bye  to  any  of  us." 

The  girl  looked  back  with  a  protesting 
smile.  "  Do  you  think  my  heart  is  light 
enough  for  that  ?  Oh,  Cousin  Kitty, 
what  an  ingrate  you  make  me !  " 

An  ingrate  Alice  Hildreth  certainly 
was  not,  and  as  she  took  her  way  through 
the  mining  camp,  stopping  now  and  then 
for  a  word  with  some  group  of  children 
who  called  her  "  Teacher,"  and  asked  sor- 
rowfully if  she  were  really  going  "way 
back  East,"  she  could  not  escape  a  little 
feeling  of  sadness.  To  return  to  the  dear 
New  England  home  after  a  long  absence 
was  surely  a  joyous  thing,  but  to  bid 
good  bye,  perhaps  forever,  to  people  and 
places  that  for  six  busy,  happy  months 
had  been  part  of  her  life  was,  after  all, 
not  easy. 


ON  THE  EVE   OF  FLIGHT.  II 

It  was  with  no  thought  of  the  school  in 
this  place  that  the  girl  had  come  to  Colo- 
rado at  the  first.  The  mission  which  had 
brought  her  into  the  shadow  of  the  great 
Rockies  had  been  that  of  companion  to 
an  invalid  aunt,  who  had  hoped  to  regain 
her  broken  health  in  a  sunny  city  of  the 
plains.  But  when,  at  the  close  of  an 
unavailing  winter,  the  latter  had  turned 
with  homesick  longing  to  the  East  again, 
Alice  had  remained  behind,  lured  into  the 
very  heart  of  the  mountains,  by  the  per- 
suasions of  that  prosperous  cousin  who 
had  engaged  himself  in  the  mining  inter- 
ests of  Silvercrest,  and  who,  for  the  sea- 
son, had  charge  of  securing  a  teacher  for 
the  public  school. 

He  had  offered  her  the  position, 
shrewdly  guessing  that  some  motive  be- 
yond that  of  a  mere  visit  would  be 
needed  to  keep  her  for  a  summer  in  his 
home,  and  the  girl  had  accepted  the  offer 


12  THE  M.  M.   C. 

with  delight.  She  had,  indeed,  felt  it 
her  duty  to  confide  to  her  cousin  that 
she  was  only  nineteen  (she  fondly  be- 
lieved that  she  looked  much  older)  and 
that  her  experience  in  teaching  was  of 
the  slightest,  but  when  the  genial  official 
only  smiled  at  the  disclosure  and  offered 
to  "  risk  it,"  she  had  dismissed  her  doubts 
and  entered  on  the  work  with  real  en- 
thusiasm. 

And  now  that  work  was  ended.  The 
school  had  disbanded  for  the  long  vaca- 
tion, and  just  at  the  beginning  of  winter, 
bewailed  of  all  the  camp,  the  girl  was 
about  to  set  her  face  towards  home. 

It  was  a  thrifty  young  camp,  this  of 
Silvercrest.  Its  name  it  had  borrowed 
from  the  great  white  peak  which  rose 
conspicuous  above  its  fellows,  snow- 
crowned  through  all  the  seasons.  But 
the  name  was  not  merely  a  poetic  fancy. 
A  wealth  of  silver  and  gold  lay  in  the 


ON  THE  EVE   OF  FLIGHT.  13 

heart  of  the  great  rough  pile,  and  seemed 
indeed  to  be  hidden  through  all  the  region. 
It  was  only  three  years  since  a  lucky  pros- 
pector stumbled  on  the  first  great  "  find," 
but  the  town  had  already  passed  beyond 
the  stage  of  a  "  summer  camp,"  and 
waited  only  the  coming  of  the  railroad, 
as  its  settlers  confidently  believed,  for 
the  boom  which  should  lift  it  at  once 
to  the  importance  of  a  full-fledged  city. 

In  appearance  the  place  did  not  differ 
much  from  others  of  its  sort;  a  huddle 
of  houses  between  the  mountains,  one- 
story  frames  for  the  greater  part,  many 
of  them  still  displaying  building-paper 
for  clapboards  and  stove-pipes  for  chim- 
neys, with  a  sprinkling  of  taller  buildings, 
among  which  one  could  not  fail  to  note 
the  usual  proportions  of  saloons  and 
lodging-houses. 

The  girl's  walk  did  not  lead  her  the 
full  length  of  the  camp.  Passing  the 


14  THE  M.  M.   C. 

school-house,  the  most  substantial  build- 
ing in  the  place  and  one  which  did 
duty  not  only  as  a  temple  of  learning 
but  occasional  church  and  variety  hall, 
she  turned  from  the  main  street  and 
took  a  path  which  led  away  among  the 
hills.  Far  out  on  this  path  lived  her 
friend,  the  old  prospector.  The  special 
object  of  her  trip  was  to  say  good  bye 
to  him. 

It  was  a  long  walk  she  had  before 
her,  but  she  took  it  after  the  manner 
of  one  used  to  climbing,  resting  now 
and  then,  while  she  gave  herself  up  to 
the  delight  of  the  widening  and  wonder- 
ful landscape.  Her  eyes  were  bright, 
and  there  was  an  unusual  color  in  her 
cheeks  when  she  stopped  at  last  before 
a  cave-like  opening  in  the  hill,  close  to 
a  miner's  cabin. 

It  was  not  the  first  opening  of  the  sort 
which  she  had  passed  in  the  course  of  her 


ON  THE  EVE   OF  FLIGHT.  15 

walk.  Indeed,  the  country  might  be  said 
to  be  honeycombed  with  them,  —  "prospect 
holes,"  as  they  were  called,  —  but  this  was 
the  first  at  which  she  had  sent  more 
than  a  passing  glance.  For  a  minute  she 
stood  with  the  air  of  one  listening  in- 
tently, then  stepped  inside  the  rocky 
opening.  It  was  the  mouth  of  a  tunnel 
which  extended  for  more  than  a  hundred 
feet  into  the  mountain,  so  dark  that  her 
eyes,  filled  with  the  light  of  the  world 
outside,  could  not  distinguish  the  two 
figures  working  at  the  farther  end,  till 
one  of  them,  turning,  made  a  little  spot 
of  brightness  with  the  flame  of  the  candle 
stuck  in  his  cap.  Her  own  figure,  out- 
lined against  the  blue  of  the  opening, 
was  plain  to  be  seen,  and  she  announced 
herself  now  with  a  sudden  call. 

"  Do  you  want  a  visitor  ? "  she  cried, 
and  the  next  instant  the  two  had  stopped 
their  work  and  were  hurrying  towards  her 


1 6  THE  M.  M.  C. 

with  exclamations  of  welcome.  One  of 
them  was  a  boy  apparently  a  little  younger 
than  herself,  but  the  other,  who  hastened 
before  him,  was  a  man,  who  might  have 
been  upwards  of  sixty ;  a  tall  spare  figure, 
with  a  face  half  covered  by  a  grizzled 
beard,  and  quick  gray  eyes  that  looked 
out  from  under  shaggy  brows  and  a 
deeply  lined  forehead. 

"  Well,  I  should  rather  say  we  wanted 
you!'1'1  he  cried,  seizing  the  girl's  hand  in 
both  of  his.  "  It's  queer,  now,  how  things 
come  round.  We  were  talking  'bout  you 
jest  a  minute  ago,  Lex  'n'  I,  an'  I  was  say- 
ing seemed  as  if  I  couldn't  stan'  it  not  to 
see  you  again  before  you  went  away." 

"  Oh,  I  couldn't  have  gone  without 
that?  said  the  girl,  "  and  I  came  on  pur- 
pose. It's  my  last  chance,  you  know,  for 
to-morrow  I  start." 

He  placed  an  empty  powder  keg  for  her 
near  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel,  and  seated 


ON  THE  EVE   OF  FLIGHT.  \J 

himself  on  another  beside  it  before  he 
answered,  "  So  they  tell  me.  Well,  I 
s'pose  we  hain't  got  any  claim  to  keep  you 
here,  now  the  school  is  done,  but  'pears  to 
me  it  stopped  too  soon  this  year." 

The  girl  shook  her  head,  with  a  smile. 
"Oh,  no,  Mr.  Cornforth ! "  she  said. 
"  There  have  been  six  months  of  it,  and 
it's  high  time  now  for  vacation.  You 
think  so,  don't  you,  Lex  ? "  she  added, 
turning  to  the  boy,  who  stood  near  leaning 
on  his  pick. 

He  did  not  reply  with  a  smile  as  bright 
as  hers.  "  We  boys  weren't  caring  so 
very  much  about  it,"  he  said. 

"  But  I'll  warrant  the  little  teacher 
was,"  said  the  old  man,  "  and  I  can't  say's 
I  blame  her  any."  He  looked  at  her  in 
silence  for  a  moment,  and  then  added 
slowly,  "  An'  so  you're  going  back  to  the 
old  Bay  State,  right  into  the  home  corner? 
I  wouldn't  mind  if  I  was  going  back  there 


1 8  THE  M.  M.   C. 

for   a   while   myself.     It's    nigh    on   forty 
years  since   I  struck  out." 

There  was  a  note  of  homesickness  in 
his  voice  as  he  said  it  that  went  straight 
to  the  girl's  heart.  It  was  not  the  first 
time  she  had  heard  him  refer  thus  ten- 
derly to  the  "  home  corner."  Indeed,  it 
was  the  first  bond  of  the  friendship 
which  had  grown  so  strong  between  them, 
that  she  had  come  fresh  from  those  same 
New  England  hills  which  he  had  known 
in  his  far-away  boyhood.  Not  that  they 
were  actually  natives  of  the  same  town, 
but  the  score  or  two  of  miles  which  lay 
between  his  early  home  and  hers  did  not 
count  for  much  with  one  who  had  wan- 
dered across  half  a  continent.  It  was,  as 
he  had  said,  almost  forty  years  since  he 
left  those  quiet  hills  to  seek  his  fortune  in 
this  strange  far  country.  In  the  search 
he  had  climbed  the  mountains,  and 
threaded  the  gorges,  delved  in  the  rocks, 


ON   THE  EVE   OF  FLIGHT.  19 

and  sifted  the  sands,  but  with  all  his  toil 
he  had  won  nothing  except  the  name 
"  Old  Hopeful,"  spoken  always  with  a 
half-pitying  smile  by  those  who  had 
watched  the  unavailing  struggle  of  his 
life.  Yet  in  spite  of  every  disappoint- 
ment, and  through  every  hardship,  he  had 
kept  his  own  sturdy  faith  in  the  good  time 
coming  and  worked  uncomplainingly  on. 
A  type  of  his  class,  and  a  patient  kindly 
soul  as  ever  bore  the  "whips  and  scorns 
of  time,"  was  this  old  prospector. 

He  had  paused  after  the  last  words, 
and  his  eyes  rested  for  a  moment  with 
a  far-away  look  on  the  landscape  which 
lay  outside  the  tunnel.  He  glanced  back 
now,  and  seeming  to  read  a  question  in 
the  girl's  face,  said  quickly, — 

"  I  didn't  come  away  because  I  hadn't 
a  good  home,  you  understand.  I  never 
had  a  thing  to  complain  of.  Our  folks 
were  middling  well  off,  an'  my  father  was 


2O  THE  M.  M.   C. 

working  the  old  farm  for  all  there  was 
in  it  to  give  us  children  an  education. 
He  kind  o'  wanted  to  make  a  preacher 
o'  me,  but  when  I  was  one  'n'  twenty  I 
took  the  western  fever  bad,  'n'  there  was 
no  curing  it  back  there." 

"  Did  you  ever  wish  you  hadn't  come 
away?"  asked  Alice,  impelled  to  the  ques- 
tion by  the  contrasting  pictures  which 
framed  themselves  in  her  thoughts  at 
that  moment. 

"Well,  no  —  I  can't  say  as  I  ever  did," 
said  the  prospector,  reflectively.  "  I've 
had  a  tolerable  share  of  hard  luck,  but  I 
never  wanted  to  give  up  the  chance  I 
saw  before  me.  And  I  couldn't  have 
made  a  preacher,  anyhow,"  he  added 
shamefacedly.  "  I  hadn't  got  the  gift  o' 
gab,  'n'  I  never  did  feel  easy  setting 
round  in  good  clothes." 

There  was  no  danger  of  embarrass- 
ment from  the  elegance  of  those  he  wore 


ON   THE  EVE    OF  FLIGHT.  21 

now.  His  corduroy  suit,  though  whole, 
was  of  the  roughest,  and  his  boots,  on 
whose  enormously  heavy  soles  the  letters 
"  O.  K."  were  traced  in  huge  round  nail- 
heads,  had  apparently  never  known  the 
color  of  anything  but  clay. 

"  But  you'll  come  back  to  New  Eng- 
land sometime,"  said  Alice,  earnestly. 

"  Oh,  sartin,  sartin,"  said  the  pros- 
pector, cheerily.  "  I  count  sure  on  see- 
ing the  old  places  again  before  I  die, 
but  I  can't  leave  this  country,  you  know, 
till  I  have  something  to  show  for  all  the 
time  I've  spent  out  here."  He  sent  a 
sudden  glance  along  the  low,  dark  walls 
in  whose  shadow  they  were  sitting,  and 
added,  "When  I  sell  the  M.  M.  C,  I 
guess  I  shall  be  ready  to  start." 

The  M.  M.  C.  was  the  prospector's 
latest  and  dearest  hope.  In  actual  pres- 
ence, as  it  lay  in  the  shadows  behind 
them,  it  seemed  to  Alice  Hildreth  only 


22  THE  M.  M.   C. 

a  damp  and  gloomy  cavern  of  the  moun- 
tains. Perhaps  he  read  the  thought  in 
her  mind,  for  he  raised  his  finger  as  he 
leaned  towards  her,  and  his  eyes  gleamed 
with  the  brightness  of  an  eager  confi- 
dence, as  he  said, — 

"  Mebbe  it  don't  look  like  anything  to 
you,  Miss  Hildreth,  but  I  tell  you  there's 
ore  in  here  of  a  sort  that'll  make  folks 
open  their  eyes  some  day,  and,  mark  my 
words,  it  won't  be  long  now  before  we 
catch  the  lead." 

"Oh,  if  you  only  could,  if  you  only 
could ! "  cried  the  girl.  Her  cheeks 
grew  fairly  pale  in  the  eagerness  with 
which  her  heart  responded  to  his  hope. 
Then  the  fear  made  its  way  again,  and 
she  added  sorrowfully,  "  But  I've  heard 
you  say  yourself  that  one  can  never  be 
really  certain  what  is  in  a  mine  before- 
hand." 

"  Oh,  to  be  sure,  you  can't  tell  every- 


ON  THE  EVE   OF  FLIGHT.  2$ 

thing,"  admitted  the  old  man,  his  voice 
dropping  a  little.  "  Signs  will  fail,  an' 
the  way  some  veins  act  is  enough  to  de- 
ceive the  very  elect.  Still,  it  ain't  all 
guess-work  —  not  by  no  manner  o' 
means."  His  voice  grew  confident 
again,  and  he  added,  "  I  tell  you  it's  a 
long  lane  that  has  no  turning,  an'  I've 
always  stood  to  it  that  spite  of  every- 
thing, an'  come  what  may,  a  man's  best 
course  is  to  hold  right  on." 

"  It's  holding  on  sometimes  that 
works  the  mischief,"  observed  the  boy, 
in  a  low  voice. 

"  Aye,  aye,  Lex,"  said  the  prospector, 
answering  the  twinkle  in  the  lad's  eyes 
with  one  in  his  own.  "  It  won't  do  to 
push  that  rule  too  far  in  special  cases. 
You  'n'  I  know  that. 

"  You  see,"  he  continued,  turning  to 
Alice  with  an  air  of  explanation,  "  a 
man's  between  hawk  and  buzzard  all 


24  THE  M.  M.   C. 

the  time  in  the  mining  business.  There's 
such  a  thing  as  holding  on  too  long,  an' 
then  again  there's  such  a  thing  as  letting 
go  too  soon.  I've  taken  my  chances 
both  ways  over  'n'  over,  —  and  missed 
it,"  he  added,  with  a  momentary  knot- 
ting of  his  forehead,  —  "missed  it  every 
time  there  was  anything  big  at  stake." 

The  reminiscent  mood  was  on  him 
now,  and  he  went  on,  urged  by  the  in- 
terest in  his  listener's  face. 

"  There  was  the  Down  Easter.  I  sold 
that  property  for  a  hundred  dollars  to 
the  men  that  took  half  a  million  out  of 
her.  I'd  worked  it  stiddy  for  a  year,  an' 
put  everything  I  could  rake  'n'  scrape 
together  into  it,  but  I  gave  it  up  at  last 
as  a  bad  job,  an'  the  fellows  that  took 
her  opened  the  best  vein  in  the  camp 
with  the  very  first  shot  they  put  in." 

He  shut  his  teeth  hard  on  the  re- 
membrance, and  for  a  moment  his  sinewy 


ON  THE  EVE   OF  FLIGHT.  2$ 

hands  were  clenched  tightly  together. 
But  the  bitterness  was  gone  from  his 
voice  as  he  went  on. 

"  After  that  it  was  just  my  luck  to 
miss  it  the  other  way.  That  time  it 
was  in  the  Aunt  Sarah.  I'd  got  onto  a 
pay  streak  that  time,  no  mistake,  an  1  I 
named  it  for  the  old  maid  aunt  that 
brought  me  up.  She  was  one  of  the 
stiddy-going  kind ;  you  knew  jest  where 
to  find  her  every  time.  Well,  somehow 
I  made  sure  that  vein  was  going  to  act 
jest  like  her,  an'  my  pardner  'n'  I  refused 
a  handsome  offer  when  we'd  been  work- 
ing her  a  little  while.  But  I'll  be 
thumped  if  she  didn't  peter  out  com- 
pletely right  away  after  that,  and  we 
couldn't  sell  her  for  enough  to  fit  us 
out  for  another  season." 

This  remembrance  did  not  seem  to 
rankle  like  that  of  the  Down  Easter, 
and  there  was  a  touch  of  drollery  in  his 


26  THE  M.  M.   C. 

voice  as  he  added,  "  After  that  I  never 
named  any  more  claims  for  my  own  re- 
lations, only  one  for  Uncle  Jim  Dexter. 
I  thought  mebbe  that  would  work  contry- 
wise  too,  but  it  didn't.  It  turned  out  to 
be  jest  as  shif'less  'n'  slack-twisted  as 
the  old  man  himself." 

They  all  smiled  at  this,  and  then  the 
boy  said  softly,  "  But  you  named  the  M. 
M.  C.  here  for  little  Mary.  You  don't 
forget  that,  do  you  ?  " 

He  had  come  close  to  the  old  man's 
side  while  the  latter  was  talking,  and 
stood  looking  at  him  now  with  an  af- 
fectionate smile.  They  were  close  com- 
rades, these  two.  The  boy  was  a  waif 
who  had  drifted  into  the  other's  life 
long  years  before,  and  since  that  day 
had  shared  in  every  fortune  that  fell  to 
the  prospector's  lot.  The  latter  gave  a 
quick  nod  at  the  low  reminder. 

"Yes,  the  M.  M.  C.  is  named  for  my 


ON   THE  EVE    OF  FLIGHT.  2J 

little  Mary,"  he  said;  "but  that  was  her 
doings,  not  mine.  '  You  must  name  it 
for  me,  Daddy,'  says  she,  '  and  then 
your  luck  will  be  sure  to  come.'  An'  do 
you  know,  Miss  Hildreth,"  he  added,  turn- 
ing with  an  impressive  gesture  to  his 
visitor,  "  the  way  she  looked  when  she 
said  that  made  me  feel,  then  an'  there, 
that  there  was  something  in  it.  I  tell 
you  these  little  folks  see  into  things  a 
deal  farther  than  we  do  sometimes." 

Alice  did  not  speak  for  a  moment. 
She  felt,  with  a  throb  of  pity  which  she 
might  have  spared,  that  this  old  man,  with 
the  deep  lines  in  his  face,  and  the  long 
hard  years  of  disappointment  behind  him, 
was  still  himself  only  a  child  at  heart. 

"  Well,  I'm  sure  it's  a  nice  name,"  she 
said,  with  an  effort ;  "  I  remember  the 
first  time  I  heard  it  I  wondered  what 
those  letters  stood  for.  I  didn't  know 
then  that  you  had  a  daughter." 


28  THE  M.  M.   C. 

She  said  the  last  words  tenderly,  for 
she  knew  that  this  child,  from  whom  he 
had  been  separated  for  months,  was  the 
idol  of  her  father's  heart.  There  had 
been  a  romance  in  his  life,  short  indeed 
and  late,  but  a  living  reality  to  him  still 
in  the  person  of  his  little  motherless 
daughter. 

"  Yes,  I  have  my  Mary,"  he  said,  and 
his  face  shone  with  a  brightness  it  had 
not  worn  even  when  he  talked  of  the 
fortune  in  the  M.  M.  C.  "  I  do  wish 
you  could  have  seen  her  before  you 
went  away.  It  don't  seem  right  that 
you  should  have  been  in  camp  so  long 
an'  not  have  known  my  little  girl.  I 
had  a  good  mind  to  go  and  get  her 
when  you  took  the  school,  but  I'd  prom- 
ised her  for  a  year  to  folks  that  can  do 
more  for  her  than  I  can,  an'  I  wouldn't 
go  back  on  my  word.  But  you'll  see 
her  one  of  these  days  when  I  bring  her 


ON  THE  EVE    OF  FLIGHT.  29 

East  to  get  her  education.  That's  what 
I've  set  my  heart  on.  It's  the  very  first 
thing  I'll  do  when  my  luck  comes." 

He  paused  for  a  moment,  then  added 
with  a  sudden  trembling  in  his  voice, 
"  If  it  warn't  for  her  I  don't  know  as  I 
should  care  much  about  the  luck  one 
way  or  another.  This  rough  life  is 
good  enough  for  me.  I've  followed  it 
so  long  that  mebbe  I  couldn't  fit  in 
with  any  other  now,  but  it  ain't  the 
right  sort  for  her.  No,  nor  for  Lex 
neither,"  he  exclaimed,  stretching  out  his 
hand  to  the  boy.  "  He's  fit  for  some- 
thing better  than  to  go  knocking  round 
the  world  as  I  have,  an'  I  want  to  give 
him  a  fair  start  before  I  pass  '  over  the 
range.' " 

The  boy's  face  quivered.  It  was  a 
strong  young  face,  not  showing  emotion 
too  easily,  but  at  this  moment  it  was 
all  aflame  with  feeling. 


3<D  THE  M.  M.    C. 

"  Uncle  Eben,"  he  said,  "  you've  done 
more  for  me  now  than  I  can  ever  pay 
you  for.  All  I  want  is  a  chance  to  do 
something  for  you." 

They  looked  at  each  other  for  a  mo- 
ment with  an  affection  -which  took  no 
note  of  their  visitor,  and  she,  feeling  that 
if  the  good  bye  were  to  be  said  steadily, 
she  must  say  it  soon,  rose  from  her  seat. 

"  You'll  write  to  me  now  and  then, 
won't  you  ? "  she  said.  "  Of  course  I 
shall  send  you  a  letter  as  soon  as  I  get 
back,  and  tell  you  about  my  journey,  and 
how  everything  looks  in  the  home  corner," 
—  she  loved  the  phrase  for  his  sake,  — 
"  but  you  must  tell  me  how  things  are 
going  here.  I  shall  be  so  anxious  to 
know,  and  don't  wait  a  minute  to  send 
me  word  if  you  really  strike  it  in  the 
M.  M.  C." 

"  We'll  do  it,  we'll  do  it !  "  said  the  old 
man,  eagerly.  "  Lex  is  handier  at  the  pen 


ON  THE  EVE   OF  FLIGHT.  31 

than  I  am  nowadays,  an'  I  guess  he 
won't  need  much  urging  to  write  to  you. 
But  I  tell  you,  you  needn't  be  a  bit  sur- 
prised if  you  get  that  word  about  the 
M.  M.  C.  on  short  order.  We've  settled 
down  to  stiddy  work  in  here  now,  for 
there's  a  deal  to  be  done  before  the  year 
runs  out,  an'  it  wouldn't  be  the  strangest 
thing  that  ever  happened  if  we  should 
strike  it  before  the  new  year  comes." 

They  passed  together  out  of  the  tunnel 
as  he  spoke.  The  short  afternoon  was 
almost  spent,  and  purple  shadows  were 
creeping  across  the  mountains. 

"  I'll  go  down  to  camp  with  you,  Miss 
Hildreth,"  said  Lex.  He  had  been  her 
escort  too  often  during  the  months  in 
which  he  had  been  her  pupil  to  doubt  her 
willingness,  and  he  added,  turning  to  the 
prospector,  "  I'll  look  in  at  the  post-office 
while  I'm  there.  Maybe  there's  a  letter 
from  Mary." 


32  THE  M.  M.   C. 

There  was  a  last  word  of  parting,  a 
clasp  of  the  hands,  and  then  the  young 
girl  went  her  way,  leaving  the  old  man 
standing  alone  on  the  rocky  slope.  It 
had  been  many  a  year  since  any  good 
bye  had  been  as  hard  for  him  to  say  as 
this,  and  his  eyes  followed  her  with  a 
yearning  tenderness  till  a  bend  in  the 
narrow  trail  took  her  out  of  his  sight. 

"  Well,  she's  gone,"  he  muttered  to  him- 
self, "  an'  I  wouldn't  hold  her  back  if  I 
could,  but  seems  as  if  'twas  taking  some- 
thing right  out  of  me  to  have  her  go." 

He  drew  his  sleeve  across  his  eyes  as 
he  walked  towards  his  cabin.  At  the 
door  he  paused  and  glanced  up  at  the 
western  sky.  Something  in  its  appear- 
ance fastened  his  attention,  for  he  gazed 
a  moment  with  contracting  brows,  then 
darted  a  quick  glance  towards  a  point  at 
the  north  where  a  great  cliff  projected 
sharply  from  the  mass  of  the  mountains. 


ON  THE  EVE   OF  FLIGHT.  33 

Gray  clouds  were  shifting  uneasily  about 
it,  half  concealing  its  rugged  outlines. 
The  prospector's  lips  shaped  themselves 
into  an  inaudible  whistle.  He  had  lived 
too  much  with  Nature  not  to  have  a  quick 
perception  of  her  moods,  and  there  was 
foreboding  in  his  voice  as  he  muttered,  — 
"  I  never  saw  the  clouds  hang  round 
old  Craggy  that  way  when  it  didn't  mean 
the  biggest  kind  of  a  storm.  Mebbe,  after 
all,  she  won't  get  away  to-morrow." 


CHAPTER    II. 

CAGED. 

TT  was  certainly  a  risk  which  Alice 
L  Hildreth  had  taken  in  prolonging  her 
stay  in  Silvercrest  up  to  the  very  edge 
of  December.  There  was  a  distinct  pos- 
sibility that  she  might  be  shut  in  by 
the  snows  of  winter  at  the  very  time 
she  would  be  ready  to  start  for  home. 

But  Alice  could  not  with  good  con- 
science have  shortened  the  six  months' 
term,  which  was  all  the  schooling  that 
the  camp  provided  for  its  children  dur- 
ing the  year,  and  it  must  be  admitted 
that  the  danger  of  blockades  had  never 
been  much  enlarged  on  in  her  presence 
by  those  who  were  most  interested  in 
her  staying.  Perhaps  it  should  be  said 

34 


CAGED.  35 

in  their  defence  that,  although  a  fall  of 
snow  was  something  to  be  looked  for 
in  this  region  from  the  earliest  days 
of  October,  as  a  matter  of  fact  such 
snows  usually  passed  away  quickly,  and 
autumn  often  prolonged  itself  with  mel- 
low brightness  to  the  end  of  a  charming 
November. 

In  view  of  all  this,  the  storm  which 
actually  came,  shutting  the  girl  up  in 
this  mountain  fastness  on  the  very  eve 
of  departure,  was  a  thing  hard  to  bear. 
There  were  many  in  the  camp,  less 
weather-wise  than  the  old  prospector, 
who  knew,  before  they  went  to  bed  that 
night,  that  the  storm  was  close  upon 
them,  but  Alice  was  not  one  of  these. 
She  finished  the  packing  of  her  trunk 
and  fell  asleep  in  undisturbed  expecta- 
tion of  the  journey  which  was  to  begin 
in  the  morning. 

With  morning  the  whole  face   of   the 


36  THE  M.  M.   C. 

world  had  changed.  The  snow  had  be- 
gun stealthily  at  midnight,  and  seemed 
not  so  much  to  be  falling  now  as  to 
be  pouring  in  sheets  upon  a  landscape 
about  to  be  blotted  from  existence.  Alice 
had  gone  to  bed  with  the  curtain  raised 
that  she  might  waken  early,  but  a 
heavier  drapery  than  the  one  she  had 
lifted  hung  in  clinging  folds  upon  the 
casement,  and  shut  out  even  the  poor 
gray  thing  which  had  come  to  make 
apology  for  morning.  A  stamping  of 
feet  in  the  hall  below  at  length  aroused 
her.  She  started  up,  realized  with  strain- 
ing eyes  what  had  happened,  then,  sick 
at  heart,  dressed  and  hurried  down-stairs. 

Her  cousin,  John  St.  Cloud,  was  in 
the  breakfast  room  before  her,  his  hands 
stretched  out  to  the  fire,  and  drops  of 
melted  snow  shining  in  his  close  brown 
beard. 

"Well,  little   girl,"  he   said,  lifting   his 


'HER  COUSIN  .  .  .  WAS  IN  THE  BREAKFAST 
ROOM  BEFORE  HER." 


CAGED.  37 

eyebrows  with  a  questioning  smile  as 
she  entered,  "  it's  a  slip  between  the 
cup  and  the  lip  for  you  this  time,  I'm 
afraid." 

The  lip  from  which  the  cup  had  been 
snatched  away  trembled  for  a  moment 
beyond  Alice's  power  to  steady. 

"  Cousin  John,"  she  said  imploringly, 
"dorit  you  think  there's  any  chance  of 
the  stage  going  out  to-day  ? " 

Mr.  St.  Cloud  lifted  his  brows  a  trifle 
higher.  "  Not  to  put  the  case  too 
strongly,  Alice,  I  don't  think  there  is," 
he  said.  He  was  very  fond  of  this  little 
cousin  of  his,  but  a  disposition  to  tease 
her  now  and  then  was  a  temptation  he 
could  not  resist,  and  there  was  just  a 
suspicion  of  amusement  in  his  voice  as 
he  inquired  politely  whether  she  had 
looked  out  of  doors. 

A  small  image  of  himself  who  was 
perched  in  a  high  chair  at  the  table  broke 


38  THE  M.  M.   C. 

in  upon  the  pause  with  a  shrill  exclama- 
tion, "  Oh,  I  know  you  can't  go,  Cousin 
Alice !  The  road  is  all  stopped  up,  and 
the  stage  would  be  snowed  under  if  it 
tried  to  go  out.  You've  just  got  to  stay 
here  with  us.  I  heard  papa  and  mamma 
say  so." 

The  tears  rushed  suddenly  into  Alice's 
eyes,  and  it  was  well  for  her  that  a  more 
considerate  member  of  the  family  entered 
the  room  at  that  moment.  Mrs.  St.  Cloud 
saw  instantly  that  their  disappointed  guest 
was  not  receiving  much  consolation  from 
the  masculine  part  of  the  household,  and 
she  hastened  to  supply  it  as  best  she  could. 

"  My  dear,"  she  said,  putting  her  arms 
around  the  girl,  "  I  know  this  is  a  dreadful 
disappointment,  and  I  wouldn't  have  had 
it  happen  for  anything  in  the  world,  but 
you  really  mustn't  blame  us  if  we  can't 
feel  blue  over  the  prospect  of  keeping 
you  with  us  a  few  days  longer." 


CAGED.  39 

"  A  few  days,"  repeated  her  husband. 
"  Don't  be  too  sure  it's  only  for  a  few  days. 
It  looks  very  much  as  if  we  were  in  for  a 
siege,  and  it  means  something  besides 
poetry  to  be  snow-bound  up  here.  We 
were  shut  in  four  weeks  last  winter,  and 
the  winter  before  —  " 

"Jack,"  interrupted  his  wife,  indignantly. 
"  How  can  you  have  the  heart  to  frighten 
Alice  by  talking  in  that  way?  Those 
long  blockades  came  later  in  the  season. 
Why,  there's  never  been  a  time  when  the 
valley  was  closed  all  through  December !  " 

"  Not  that  we  know  of,"  admitted  Mr. 
St.  Cloud.  He  began  to  say  something 
about  the  memory  of  the  oldest  inhabitant 
in  Silvercrest  not  reaching  back  very  far, 
but  the  distress  in  Alice's  face  finally 
stopped  him,  and  he  said  instead,  "  Well, 
don't  worry,  child.  You  needn't  be  a  bit 
afraid  of  having  to  stay  here  all  winter.  I 
only  want  to  prepare  you  for  the  worst, 


40  THE  M.  M.   C. 

you  know,  so  that  you'll  be  agreeably  sur- 
prised if  you  should  get  off  in  a  few  days." 

"  Oh,  depend  upon  it,  we  shall  have  an 
open  road  again  very  soon  ! "  said  Mrs. 
St.  Cloud.  Then,  feeling  that  she  had 
done  her  duty  by  Alice,  she  could  not 
help  adding  with  a  sigh,  "  Dear  knows,  I 
wouldn't  keep  you  in  a  place  like  this 
against  your  will,  but  it'll  be  more  lone- 
some than  ever  for  me  when  you're  gone." 

Mrs.  St.  Cloud,  it  should  be  remarked, 
had  never  shared  her  husband's  enthusi- 
asm for  life  in  a  mining  camp.  For  his 
sake  she  endured  it  and  made  his  home 
the  pleasantest  place  in  Silvercrest,  but  in 
her  heart  she  protested  against  her  rough 
surroundings,  and  far  less  than  Alice  had 
she  ever  really  entered  into  the  spirit  of 
the  place. 

There  was  no  response  to  the  last  re- 
mark, and  the  family  seated  themselves  at 
the  breakfast  table.  Alice  tried  to  make 


CAGED.  41 

her  part  in  the  conversation,  but  there 
was  no  getting  away  from  the  subject  of 
the  storm,  and  it  was  an  effort  to  make 
the  best  of  things,  when  she  said  pres- 
ently, — 

"  Well,  I'm  glad  I  took  that  walk  yester- 
day, even  if  I'm  not  going  away  to-day. 
This  snow  would  prevent  my  ever  getting 
out  so  far  again,  and  I  wouldn't  have 
missed  seeing  Mr.  Cornforth  once  more 
for  anything." 

"  You  and  Old  Hopeful  seem  to  be 
great  friends,"  observed  Mr.  St.  Cloud. 
"  He's  always  bragging  you  up  lately  — 
you  and  the  M.  M.  C." 

"  Well,  I  don't  know  why  he  should 
brag  about  me,"  said  Alice,  flushing  a 
little.  "  But  the  M.  M.  C.  is  a  good  sub- 
ject if  it's  as  good  as  he  thinks  it  is.  He 
was  telling  me  about  it  yesterday,  and 
he  feels  so  sure  there's  a  fortune  in  it." 

"  Oh,  of  course,"  said  St.  Cloud,  rather 


42  THE  M.  M.   C. 

contemptuously.  "  He's  always  sure  that 
he's  just  on  the  point  of  striking  it.  He's 
been  sure  for  the  last  hundred  years." 

A  look  of  real  pain  came  into  Alice's 
face.  This  light  way  of  referring  to  the 
disappointments  of  her  poor  old  friend 
jarred  upon  her.  "  Oh,  you  don't  think 
he's  going  to  be  disappointed  again,  do 
you  ?  "  she  said  pleadingly. 

St.  Cloud  shrugged  his  shoulders.  As 
a  mining  man  of  large  experience  and 
superintendent  of  the  most  successful 
mine  in  Silvercrest,  he  was  not  to  be 
drawn  into  the  folly  of  passing  judgment 
on  an  undeveloped  claim.  He  did  not 
reply  at  once,  and  his  wife  took  up  the 
query,  saying  in  her  impulsive  way,  — 

"  Well,  if  there's  any  truth  in  the  old 
saying  that  'labor  has  a  sure  reward,' 
Eben  Cornforth  ought  to  get  something 
for  all  his  hard  work." 

"  I  don't  take  much  stock  in  those  old 


CAGED.  43 

saws,"  observed  St.  Cloud.  "  That  one 
was  made  for  the  copybooks  by  some 
Down-Easter  who  knew  nothing  about 
the  kind  of  labor  that  goes  on  in  these 
mountains." 

"  Well,  it  does  seem  to  be  luck,  not 
labor,  that  wins  in  mining,"  said  Mrs.  St. 
Cloud,  in  a  tone  of  disgust.  "  But  I  must 
say  I  can't  see  any  justice  in  it  when  a 
good  honest  soul  like  Eben  Cornforth 
works  year  in  and  year  out  without  hav- 
ing a  thing  to  show  for  it,  and  a  man 
like  Dudleigh  Drayton  comes  out  here 
and  makes  a  fortune  right  away." 

"  Softly,  softly,"  said  her  husband.  "  It 
takes  something  besides  luck  to  run  the 
mining  business,  and,  if  you  please,  min- 
ing is  one  thing  and  prospecting  is  quite 
another.  Because  a  man  has  the  patience 
to  keep  on  year  after  year,  pecking  holes 
in  the  sides  of  the  mountains,  it  doesn't 
follow  that  he  has  any  claim  to  the 


44  THE  M.  M.   C. 

prizes  that  fall  to  capital  and  business 
ability.  Those  are  two  things  that  pro- 
spectors don't  have  as  a  general  rule,  and 
Cornforth  is  no  exception." 

He  paused  a  moment,  then  added : 
"  But  when  you  speak  of  Drayton,  it's  a 
different  matter.  He's  the  sort  of  man 
who'd  make  a  success  of  anything  he 
took  hold  of,  and  he  has  plenty  of 
money  to  back  him.  When  he  comes 
into  a  camp  it  means  business.  He 
goes  ahead  to  develop  his  property,  sets 
a  mill  running,  brings  in  Eastern  capi- 
tal, and  makes  things  lively.  He's  the 
kind  we  need  out  here,  and  for  my  part 
I  don't  grudge  him  his  luck  when  he 
opens  up  a  pay  streak." 

He  broke  off  suddenly  with  a  laugh. 
"  There's  Drayton  now  !  "  he  exclaimed  as 
the  figure  of  a  man  passed  the  window. 
"  What's  that  saying  of  yours,  Kitty, 
about  speaking  of  angels  ?  " 


CAGED.  45 

"  I  hope  you  don't  call  him  an  angel !  " 
said  Mrs.  St.  Cloud.  She  arranged  the 
dishes  on  the  table  before  her  rather 
nervously,  and  made  haste  to  use  her 
napkin  on  little  Tommy's  face  in  the 
minute  that  elapsed  before  her  husband 
ushered  in  their  unexpected  caller. 

The  latter  was  a  tall,  rather  handsome 
man,  hardly  yet  in  the  prime  of  life, 
with  that  indescribable  something  in  his 
looks  and  manner  which  marks  the  suc- 
cessful man  of  affairs.  The  contrast 
which  had  just  been  drawn  between  him 
and  the  old  prospector  seemed  to  em- 
phasize itself  in  every  line  of  his  alert 
face,  in  every  movement  of  his  erect 
figure,  and  in  the  very  tones  of  his  quiet, 
confident  voice.  Without  doubt  Mr. 
Dudleigh  Drayton  was  the  most  pros- 
perous and  important  man  in  Silver- 
crest  ;  the  most  unscrupulous,  too,  some 
might  have  added,  but  these  were  per- 


4.6  THE  M.  M.   C. 

haps  envious  of  his  rapid  and  brilliant 
successes. 

He  accepted  the  cup  of  coffee  which 
Mrs.  St.  Cloud  offered  him,  with  an  apol- 
ogy for  making  so  early  a  call,  and  ex- 
plained that  he  wished  to  accompany  the 
superintendent  to  the  mine  in  which  they 
were  jointly  interested.  Then  turning  to 
Alice,  he  said  with  a  smile,  "  And  so 
you're  a  prisoner  among  us,  Miss  Hil- 
dreth  ?  " 

"  Fairly  caged,"  chuckled  St.  Cloud,  and, 
as  if  forgetful  of  the  comfort  he  had  lately 
offered  her,  he  added,  "  We  concluded 
we'd  keep  her  here  for  the  holidays." 

"The  holidays!"  gasped  Alice.  "Oh, 
but  you  said  —  and  the  holidays  are  away 
at  the  end  of  the  month ! " 

"  Don't  you  mind  him,  Alice,"  said  Mrs. 
St.  Cloud,  giving  her  husband  a  reproach- 
ful look.  "  It's  just  his  talk." 

"  No,  don't  be  frightened  in  advance," 


CAGED.  47 

said  Mr.  Drayton,  and  he  added  in  a 
sympathizing  tone,  "  It  would  be  dread- 
fully dull  for  you  here,  wouldn't  it  ? " 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know  about  that,"  said 
Alice.  "  I  don't  think  I  should  mind 
the  dulness."  She  was  silent  for  a  mo- 
ment, then  in  her  straightforward,  rather 
serious  fashion  added,  "  But  my  school 
is  done  now,  and  I've  nothing  to  do 
here.  There  really  seems  to  be  no 
reason  for  my  staying  any  longer,  and 
I  feel  as  if  I  ought  to  be  going  home." 

Perhaps  her  way  of  putting  it  struck 
Mr.  Drayton  as  odd,  for  his  eyes  rested 
on  her  face  for  a  moment  with  a  look 
half  curious,  half  amused.  He  seemed 
about  to  say  something  when  the  super- 
intendent interrupted  in  his  jovial  tone,  — 

"  As  for  our  camp  being  dull  at  the 
holidays,  that  is  all  a  mistake.  I  tell  you 
we  have  lively  doings  here  along  about 
that  time." 


48  THE  M.  M.   C. 

He  appealed  to  Mr.  Drayton  for  con- 
firmation of  the  statement,  and  the  latter 
promptly  assented,  adding,  however,  as  if 
with  some  reluctance,  that  the  amuse- 
ments of  the  place  were  hardly  up  as 
yet  to  those  of  Boston  or  New  York. 

"  New  York  !  "  exclaimed  little  Tommy, 
who  had  been  waiting  with  unusual  for- 
bearance for  his  chance  at  the  conversa- 
tion. "  I've  been  to  New  York !  " 

"  Have  you  ? "  said  Mr.  Drayton,  who 
was  on  friendly  terms  with  Tommy. 
"That's  odd;  I've  been  there,  too." 

"  Does  your  grandmother  live  there  ?  " 
demanded  Tommy,  getting  excited.  "  Mine 
does,  and  I've  been  all  round.  It's  a  lots 
bigger  camp  than  Silvercrest." 

The  laugh  which  followed  this  abashed 
Tommy  into  silence,  and  his  delighted 
papa  took  advantage  of  the  pause  to 
turn  the  conversation  back  to  the  pleas- 
ures of  camp  at  the  holiday  season. 


CAGED.  49 

"  You  mustn't  think,  Alice,  that  we 
folks  up  here  let  the  days  go  by  with- 
out getting  any  fun  out  of  them.  Last 
Christmas  we  had  a  Santa  Claus  to  beat 
the  nation  —  regular  team  of  mountain 
elks,  good  as  any  reindeer  in  Lapland, 
and  the  way  they  went  dashing  through 
camp  was  a  caution.  We  always  man- 
age to  get  up  something  uncommon,  and 
there's  a  regular  tournament  at  snow- 
balling and  snow-shoeing,  not  to  mention 
some  sort  of  high  jinks  in  the  evening." 

He  evidently  felt  that  he  had  done 
the  subject  in  fine  style,  but  his  wife 
inquired  rather  scornfully,  "  And  at  the 
New  Year's  ? " 

"  Oh,  at  New  Year's  there's  more  of 
the  same  sort,  and  — "  he  paused  in  ob- 
vious effort  to  recall  some  other  diver- 
sion of  the  camp,  then  with  a  sudden 
twinkle  in  his  eyes,  and  a  glance  at  Mr. 
Drayton,  added,  "  Occasionally  we  have 


5O  THE  M.  M.    C. 

something  in  the  way  of  fireworks 
thrown  in  extra." 

"  I  should  think  fireworks  would  be 
better  for  Fourth  of  July,"  observed 
Alice. 

Her  cousin  laughed,  and  Mr.  Dray- 
ton's  moustache  twitched  a  little,  but 
Mrs.  St.  Cloud  said  in  a  tone  which 
indicated  that  she  at  least  did  not  think 
the  joke  a  particularly  good  one,  "  He 
doesn't  mean  torpedoes  and  sky-rockets, 
my  dear.  The  fireworks  he  refers  to 
are  strictly  private  and  not  intended 
for  amusement." 

"  I'm  sure  I  don't  know  what  you 
mean,"  said  Alice,  and  she  appealed,  in 
some  bewilderment,  to  her  cousin  for  an 
explanation. 

"  Ask  Drayton,"  said  the  superintend- 
ent. "  He  knows  more  about  it  than  I 
do." 

Mr.    Drayton    looked    as   if    he    hardly 


CAGED.  51 

appreciated  this  tribute  to  his  superior 
knowledge,  but  he  answered  easily.  "  I 
suppose  your  cousin  refers  to  the  re- 
location of  mining  claims  the  first  of 
January.  A  pistol-shot  at  midnight 
sometimes  announces  the  fact  that  the 
old  year  is  ended  and  a  piece  of  prop- 
erty has  changed  hands.  There  was 
a  time  when  the  new  year  set  a  good 
many  echoes  rattling  among  these  hills, 
but  there  are  not  so  many  nowadays." 

"No,"  said  St.  Cloud.  "In  these 
times,  if  a  man  has  a  claim  that's  worth 
anything,  he  generally  works  it  promptly, 
and  if  it  isn't  worth  anything,  nobody 
cares  to  take  it  away  from  him." 

He  saw  that  Alice  still  looked  per- 
plexed, and  to  make  the  matter  really 
clear  to  her,  said  seriously:  "You  see, 
Alice,  the  holder  of  an  unpatented  min- 
ing claim  is  obliged  by  law  to  put  a 
hundred  dollars'  worth  of  work  or  im- 


52  THE  M.  M.   C. 

provements  upon  it  every  year.  The  year 
is  regarded  as  ending  on  the  thirty-first 
day  of  December,  and  if  this  work  is  not 
done  then,  the  owner  forfeits  his  title,  and 
the  claim  is  open  to  re-location;  so  you  see 
if  a  mining  man  has  anything  to  lose,  he'd 
better  not  be  napping  when  the  year  goes 
out,  and  if  he  has  anything  to  make,  he'd 
better  look  to  it  bright  and  early." 

"  I  see,"  said  Alice.  She  had  learned 
much  about  mining  during  her  stay  in 
Silvercrest,  but  this  particular  phase  of 
it  was  quite  new  to  her.  She  looked 
thoughtful  for  a  minute,  and  then  said, 
"  I  should  think  it  would  be  awfully 
hard  for  a  man  to  lose  his  claim  in  that 
way,  if  he  had  meant  to  get  all  the 
work  done  and  somehow  failed  of  it  just 
at  the  last." 

"  Not  a  bit  too  hard,"  said  St.  Cloud. 
"  When  a  man  locates  a  claim,  it's  his 
business  to  attend  to  it.  If  he  puts  off 


CAGED.  53 

doing  his  assessment  work  till  the  end 
of  the  year  and  expects  to  crowd  it  all 
in  at  the  last  minute,  it  serves  him 
right  if  he  gets  left.  Eh,  Drayton  ? " 

Mr.  Drayton  did  not  speak  for  a 
moment,  then  he  said  carelessly,  "  As 
far  as  I'm  concerned,  I'm  willing  that 
the  man  who  can  should  make  the  most 
of  his  chance,  when  I  leave  anything  in 
his  way." 

The  subject  dropped  with  this.  Mr. 
Drayton  fell  to  discussing  snow-men  with 
Tommy,  and  shortly  after  left  the  house 
with  Mr.  St.  Cloud.  At  the  door, 
however,  he  turned  back,  and  said  to 
Alice,  who  was  looking  out  at  the  win- 
dow with  a  very  pensive  face, - 

"  I  really  hope,  Miss  Hildreth,  that  you 
won't  be  kept  here  long  against  your 
will,  but  if  it  should  happen  so,  don't  be 
afraid  you'll  have  no  work  to  do.  Some- 
thing will  be  sure  to  turn  up  to  meet 


54  THE   M.  M.   C. 

the  demands  of  an  energy  like  yours." 
He  smiled  as  he  said  it,  then,  with  a 
pleasant  "good  morning,"  withdrew. 

For  some  minutes  Alice  turned  that 
speech  in  her  thoughts  as  she  watched 
the  two  sturdy  figures  making  their  way 
through  the  snow.  She  suspected  it  had 
been  spoken  more  in  jest  than  earnest, 
but  that  did  not  prevent  her  finding  a 
bit  of  good  counsel  in  it.  It  was  cer- 
tainly not  likely  that  anything  very  im- 
portant would  "  turn  up "  for  her  to  do, 
but  there  were  ways  enough  in  which 
she  might  be  helpful  to  her  friends,  and 
this,  after  all,  was  the  best  cure  for  ennui. 
She  determined  that  she  would  at  least 
not  be  idle,  and  with  more  real  heroism 
than  it  sometimes  takes  for  larger  things 
she  threw  herself  into  Mrs.  St.  Cloud's 
plans  for  the  day  and  the  entertainment 
of  Tommy,  who  was  restless  from  the 
lack  of  his  usual  out-door  play. 


CAGED.  55 

But  a  chance  of  doing  something  quite 
unexpected  really  seemed  to  open  before 
her  that  evening.  She  was  playing  back- 
gammon with  her  cousin  when  he  said 
suddenly,  — 

"  Oh,  there's  a  bit  of  news  you'll  be 
interested  to  hear,  Alice,  apropos  of  that 
friend  of  yours  whom  we  were  discussing 
this  morning." 

"  You  mean  Mr.  Cornforth?"  she  asked, 
lifting  her  head  quickly. 

"  Yes ;  I  heard  to-day  that  he  got  word 
last  night  his  little  girl  was  sick,  and 
.started  off  at  once  for  Redridge." 

"Dear  me!"  cried  Mrs.  St.  Cloud. 
"  How  could  he  go  with  this  storm  just 
coming  on  ?  " 

"  I  guess  the  question  with  him  was  how 
he  could  go  if  he  waited,"  said  her  husband. 

"  Well,  it's  a  mercy  he  got  the  word," 
said  Mrs.  St.  Cloud ;  "  I  wonder  if  the 
child  is  very  sick." 


56  THE  M.  M.   C. 

Alice  did  not  speak  for  a  moment. 
The  surprise  and  pity  of  it  quite  over- 
whelmed her.  Evidently  Lex  had  found 
the  letter  with  its  sorry  tidings  at  the 
post-office  when  he  came  down  the  even- 
ing before.  The  finding  at  least  was 
something  to  be  thankful  for.  Aloud 
she  said,  "  I  wonder  if  Lex  went  too." 

"  No;  I  understood  that  Cornforth  went 
alone,"  said  St.  Cloud. 

"  Then  Lex  shall  come  here  and  stay 
with  us  until  he  gets  back!"  cried  Mrs. 
St.  Cloud.  "  It  would  be  miserable  for 
him  out  there  alone  in  that  cabin,  and 
I  always  did  like  that  boy." 

Alice  gave  her  a  quick,  grateful  look. 
"  Oh,  that  would  be  splendid  for  Lex," 
she  said,  "  and  besides,  I  could  help  him 
with  his  studies  as  long  as  I  stay.  He's 
a  real  good  scholar  and  would  like  that. 
I  wonder  if  Mr.  Cornforth  will  get  back 
before  I  go  away,"  she  added,  making  a 


CAGED.  57 

rapid  forecast  of  how  much  they  might 
be  able  to  accomplish. 

"  Not  much  probability  of  that,  I  should 
say,"  replied  St.  Cloud.  "  The  road  to 
Redridge  is  like  Jordan,  '  a  hard  road  to 
trabble,'  and  Cornforth  isn't  likely  to  take 
it  again  in  a  hurry,  especially  if  his  child 
is  sick." 

"  It's  a  very  bad  time  for  him  to  go," 
said  Mrs.  St.  Cloud,  with  a  sigh. 

"  Very,"  assented  her  husband.  And 
then  he  gave  his  dice-box  an  impatient 
shake  and  told  Alice  it  was  her  turn  to 
play. 


CHAPTER    III. 

DANGER    AHEAD. 

JVAR.  ST.  CLOUD  had  undoubtedly 
spoken  the  truth  when  he  said  that 
to  be  snow-bound  in  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains meant  something  besides  poetry. 
That  isolation  which  comes  as  a  brief 
winter  experience,  not  without  its  own 
peculiar  pleasure,  to  the  secluded  farm- 
house or  the  rural  village  of  the  East, 
bears  slight  resemblance  to  the  shutting 
up  within  itself  of  a  little  mountain  town 
at  the  time  of  a  snow  blockade.  In  a 
place  like  Silvercrest,  lying  far  away  from 
the  railroad,  the  only  communication  left 
with  the  outer  world  is  through  the  ad- 
venturer on  snow-shoes,  and  even  he 
58 


DANGER  AHEAD.  59 

does  not  risk  the  trip  without  strong 
motive. 

It  was  ten  days  now  that  Alice  had 
been  a  prisoner,  and  through  all  that 
time  storm  had  followed  storm,  defying 
all  the  efforts  of  the  settlers  to  open  the 
valley  road,  and  heaping  the  snow  deeper 
and  yet  deeper  around  the  camp.  The 
girl  wondered  what  would  be  the  end 
of  it,  and  when  her  cousin  showed  her 
one  day  a  photograph  of  the  place  as  it 
appeared  during  the  first  winter  of  its 
existence,  —  a  scene  consisting  of  a  dozen 
stove-pipes  projecting  blackly  above  a 
waste  of  snow,  —  she  really  felt  a  pass- 
ing terror. 

"  The  cabins  were  under  the  snow, 
you  see,"  the  exhibitor  had  explained, 
"and  the  people  actually  lived  there  for 
a  while  with  tunnels  connecting  their 
doors.  But  it  couldn't  happen  again," 
he  added  cheerfully.  "  There  are  too 


6O  THE  M.  M.   C. 

many  of  us  here  now,  and  we'll  manage 
to  keep  the  sky  above  our  heads  if  we 
don't  do  anything  else." 

In  all  this  time  nothing  had  been  seen 
of  the  boy,  Lex  Flemming,  and  Mrs.  St. 
Cloud's  generous  plan  for  his  comfort 
still  remained  only  a  plan.  Alice  could 
not  understand  it.  She  had  thought  he 
would  want  to  tell  her  about  the  old 
prospector's  sudden  departure,  and  she 
had  felt  sure  he  would  wish  to  reassert 
the  championship  at  snow-shoeing  which 
he  had  held  for  two  winters  among  his 
mates,  but  even  for  this  he  did  not  ap- 
pear in  the  camp.  His  absence  began 
to  trouble  her,  and  Mrs.  St.  Cloud's  ex- 
planation of  it  did  not  tend  to  lessen 
her  anxiety. 

"  It  wouldn't  surprise  me  any  to  hear 
that  he's  sick,"  she  declared  with  emphasis. 
"  I'm  sure  it's  enough  to  make  him  sick  to 
live  in  that  lonesome  way,  cooking  meals 


DANGER  AHEAD.  6 1 

for  himself  that  most  likely  aren't  fit  to 
eat,  and  staying  all  alone  at  night,  with 
the  wind  howling  round  the  cabin,  and 
nothing  to  keep  any  one  from  coming  in 
who  chose  to  lift  the  latch.  It's  bad 
enough  for  men  to  live  that  way,  but  for 
a  boy  like  Lex  it's  simply  awful." 

She  proposed  to  her  husband  that  he 
should  send  a  man  out  to  the  cabin  to 
make  inquiry,  but  he  laughed  at  the 
suggestion.  "  Now  don't  you  worry 
about  that  boy,"  he  said.  "  He's  used  to 
roughing  it,  and  he  wouldn't  thank  us 
for  treating  him  like  a  baby.  If  he 
doesn't  come  down,  it's  because  he's  got 
something  else  on  hand.  Just  you  wait. 
He'll  show  up  when  he  gets  ready." 

And  as  if  to  make  good  the  superin- 
tendent's words,  Lex  did  appear  that 
very  day.  His  friends  at  the  cottage 
saw  him  coming,  and  between  them 
both  he  had  hard  work  to  answer  ques- 


62  THE  M.  M.  C. 

tions  fast  enough  when  they  had  him 
fairly  inside  the  door.  These  were  of 
course  at  first  about  Eben  Cornforth, 
and  of  him  Lex  had  but  little  to  tell. 

"  There  wasn't  much  in  the  letter,"  he 
said,  when  pressed  for  its  exact  wording. 
"  All  it  said  was  that  little  Mary  was 
sick,  and  he'd  better  come  as  quick  as 
he  could.  He  didn't  wait  long  to  start, 
I  can  tell  you,  for  he  knew  there  wasn't 
a  minute  to  lose." 

"  And  I  suppose  you  haven't  heard 
from  him  since,"  said  Mrs.  St.  Cloud. 

"  No,"  said  the  boy,  sorrowfully.  "  I 
thought  the  mail  would  come  in  to-day, 
it's  been  so  pleasant,  and  that  there 
might  be  a  letter,  but  there  wasn't  any." 

"Well,  you  mustn't  let  that  trouble 
you,"  said  Alice.  "  Why,  I  haven't  had  a 
letter  from  home  since  the  blockade  began!" 
and  for  the  moment  she  really  felt  that  there 
was  some  advantage  in  the  deprivation. 


DANGER  AHEAD.  63 

"No,"  said  Mrs.  St.  Cloud,  "there's 
everything  to  prevent  one  getting  letters 
nowadays,  and  I  presume  Mr.  Corn- 
forth  is  all  taken  up  with  the  child, 
anyway." 

She  leaned  forward  in  her  chair  now 
and  looked  at  the  boy  with  closer  scrutiny. 
It  was  time  to  ask  how  he  himself  was 
faring  in  his  guardian's  absence.  But  to 
all  that  she  had  feared  on  his  account  Lex 
made  cheerful  denial.  His  health  and 
appetite  were  perfect,  and  he  slept 
soundly  of  nights.  Why  not  ?  The 
roaring  of  storms  without  did  not  disturb 
him  safe  in  the  cabin.  As  for  tramps, 
there  were  none  abroad  now;  but  if  one 
should  come  along  some  darksome  night, 
Lex  (smiling  broadly)  declared  that  he 
should  give  him  a  share  in  his  bunk 
and  sleep  the  better  for  his  company. 
As  for  feeling  it  a  hardship  to  cook  his 
own  meals,  he  was  used  to  that,  and  with 


64  THE  M.  M.  C. 

all  modesty  would  submit  that  he  could 
fry  bacon  or  "  toss  a  flapjack  with  the 
best  of  them."  Evidently  there  was  no 
making  a  martyr  of  the  boy  while  he 
himself  was  on  the  stand  to  testify. 

Mrs.  St.  Cloud  drew  a  long  breath  as 
he  finished.  Then  she  said,  "  Well,  I'm 
sure  it's  a  credit  to  you,  Lex,  to  take 
such  a  cheerful  view  of  things,  but  for 
all  that  it  isn't  a  good  way  for  you  to 
live ;  it  isn't  a  safe  and  proper  way ;  and 
now  we  want  you  to  stay  with  us  the 
rest  of  the  time  till  Mr.  Cornforth  gets 
back.  That's  been  the  plan  from  the 
first,  only  we  couldn't  get  a  chance  to 
tell  you  so." 

Lex  blushed  like  a  girl.  The  surprise 
and  pleasure  of  such  an  invitation  almost 
took  his  breath  away,  but  something  evi- 
dently stood  in  the  way  of  his  acceptance. 
"  I  should  like  to  come,"  he  began,  "  and 
it's  ever  so  kind  of  you  to  ask  me,  but  —  " 


DANGER  AHEAD.  65 

He  hesitated,  and  Mrs.  St.  Cloud  broke 
in  impatiently,  "  Indeed,  I  shan't  believe 
you  think  it's  kind  of  us  at  all  if  you  don't 
come.  There  can't  be  any  reason  why 
you  should  stay  out  there  if  you'd  rather 
be  here.  It  wouldn't  be  a  bit  of  trouble 
to  us,  and  we've  set  our  hearts  on  it. 
Alice,  tell  him  the  plan  you  have  to  make 
the  time  really  worth  something  to  him, 
and  I'm  sure  he  won't  refuse  after  that." 

She  nodded  at  him  confidently  with  the 
last  words,  then  answering  a  call  from  the 
kitchen  left  the  two  together. 

"  Oh,  you  must  come,  Lex !  "  said  Alice, 
earnestly.  "  Mrs.  St.  Cloud  really  wishes 
it  very  much,  and  so  do  I.  It  would  be  so 
much  pleasanter  for  you,  and  only  think 
what  a  chance  you'd  have  to  go  on  with 
your  studies  with  me  to  help  you.  There's 
arithmetic,  now !  You  didn't  leave  off  at 
the  right  place.  Suppose  we  take  it  up 
again,  and  I'll  engage  that  you  shall  be 


66  THE  M.  M.   C. 

master  of  everything  in  percentage  if  we 
have  a  week  together.  Come,  Lex ;  it's  a 
chance !  " 

Her  eyes  sparkled  as  she  spoke,  but  the 
boy's  face  had  grown  very  sober.  "  Oh, 
Miss  Hildreth!"  he  said,  "I  should  like 
that  chance,  but  I  can't  take  it.  I'm  work- 
ing every  day  in  the  M.  M.  C.  That's 
what  I've  been  doing  ever  since  Uncle 
Eben  went  away,  and  I've  got  to  keep 
right  on  with  it." 

For  a  minute  Alice  was  quite  taken 
aback.  "  Why,  Lex,"  she  said,  "  is  it 
really  necessary  for  you  to  work  out  there 
while  Mr.  Cornforth  is  gone  ? " 

"  It's  because  he's  gone  that  I  must 
work !  "  cried  the  boy.  "  You  see,  Miss 
Hildreth,  the  assessment  for  this  year  isn't 
worked  out.  Uncle  Eben  meant  to  do  it 
this  month  —  he's  been  working  in  one 
of  Drayton's  mines  all  the  fall  —  but  he'd 
only  done  a  few  days'  work  in  the 


DANGER  AHEAD.  67 

M.  M.  C.  when  the  letter  came,  and  he 
dropped  everything." 

The  girl's  eyes  widened  with  a  sudden  in- 
telligence. In  a  flash  she  remembered  the 
talk  at  the  breakfast  table  on  that  morn- 
ing of  disappointment,  and  realized  just 
the  danger  which  threatened  the  old  pros- 
pector's claim.  "  Oh,  dear  me  ! "  she  said, 
and  then  she  dropped  her  hands  at  her 
sides,  and  looked  at  Lex  with  a  blank  dis- 
may. But  even  with  this  light  on  the  sit- 
uation she  still  could  not  quite  see  the 
need  of  his  self-denying  resolution. 

"  But,  Lex,"  she  cried,  "you  can't  do  all 
that  work  alone,  can  you  ? " 

"  No,"  said  the  boy ;  "  I  only  wish  I 
could.  But  my  work  counts  for  half  as 
much  as  a  man's,  —  that's  what  Drayton 
paid  me  when  I  was  working  for  him  last 
spring,  —  and  all  I  do  will  lessen  the 
amount  that's  left  for  him  to  do  when  he 
gets  back." 


68  THE  M.  M.   C. 

"  But  if  he  shouldn't  get  back  at  all ! " 

The  boy's  face  darkened  and  his  hand 
tightened  on  the  arm  of  the  chair. 
"  Then  my  work  wouldn't  hold  the 
claim,"  he  said  slowly.  "  But  I  believe 
he  will  get  back.  Anyhow,  I'm  going 
to  do  all  I  can  and  take  the  chances." 

Perhaps  he  feared  she  might  think  him 
ungrateful  in  thus  rejecting  the  plan  which 
had  been  so  generously  made  for  him,  for 
after  a  moment  he  said  earnestly, — 

"  You  wouldn't  wonder  at  the  way  I 
feel  about  this,  Miss  Hildreth,  if  you 
knew  all  he's  done  for  me.  He  took 
me  in  after  my  own  folks  died,  when  I 
was  only  a  little  chap,  with  nobody  in 
the  world  to  look  after  me,  and  he's 
stood  by  me  through  thick  and  thin  ever 
since.  He's  given  up  chances  on  account 
of  me,  that  might  have  been  a  fortune 
to  him,  and  I  wouldn't  fail  him  now, 
when  there's  a  chance  of  doing  some- 


DANGER  AHEAD.  69 

thing  for  him,  for  anything  in  the 
world." 

"  Oh,  and  I  wouldn't  have  you,  Lex ! " 
cried  Alice.  Her  own  heart  was  too 
loyal  in  its  affections,  too  instantly  re- 
sponsive to  the  sense  of  duty,  to  fail  to 
appreciate  the  boy's  feeling  in  this  mat- 
ter, and  there  was  complete  sympathy 
in  her  voice  as  she  said,  "  I  didn't  under- 
stand it  before,  but  now  that  I  do,  I  see 
that  you  couldn't  possibly  take  any  other 
course.  I  couldn't  myself  if  I  were  in 
your  place."  She  was  silent  a  moment, 
then  added,  "  I  suppose  he  knows  what 
you're  doing." 

His  face  had  brightened  as  she  spoke, 
but  he  shook  his  head  at  the  last  words. 
"  No,  we  didn't  have  any  talk  about  the 
work,"  he  said.  "  It  seemed  as  if  he 
couldn't  think  of  anything  but  little  Mary 
after  that  letter  came.  I  did  start  to  say 
something  once,  but  all  he  said  was,  '  If 


7O  THE  M.  M.   C. 

she  gets  better,  I'll  be  back  in  time,  and 
if  she  don't  — '  he  didn't  finish  it  out, 
but  I  guess  he  meant  it  wouldn't  make 
much  difference  to  him  then,  one  way 
or  another." 

His  voice,  which  had  been  so  strong 
and  confident,  trembled,  and  for  the  first 
time  there  was  a  note  of  despondency  in 
in  it  as  he  added,  "  If  I  only  knew  he'd 
get  back!  Sometimes  I  get  awfully 
worried  thinking  about  the  work  all  by 
myself." 

It  was  Alice's  turn  to  be  confident 
now.  "  But  you  mustn't  worry,  Lex !  " 
she  said.  "  I'm  sure  things  will  come 
out  right.  Why,  they  always  come  out 
right  when  we  do  our  duty,  as  you  are 
doing  yours." 

She  little  knew  how  this  faith  of  hers 
would  be  tested  in  the  days  that  were 
coming,  but  in  the  strength  of  it  now 
her  face  was  all  aglow  with  hope  and 


DANGER  AHEAD.  /I 

courage,  and  the  look  in  her  eyes  might 
have  driven  fear  from  an  older  and  more 
doubtful  soul  than  the  boy's. 

"  I'm  afraid  you  make  too  much  of 
my  part  in  it,"  he  said,  "but  I  shall  re- 
member that  you  believe  that  things  will 
come  out  right  if  I  do  my  best." 

There  was  a  little  more  talk  between 
them,  and  then  Alice  went  to  find  Mrs. 
St.  Cloud,  for  she  wanted  to  set  the 
case  in  its  true  light,  and  prevent  that 
warm-hearted  lady  from  urging  her  in- 
vitation farther.  But  this  was  not  as 
easy  as  she  had  thought.  Mrs.  St. 
Cloud  was  not  prepared  to  accept  the 
girl's  view  of  the  matter,  and  indeed  was 
somewhat  exasperated  that  she  had  so 
quickly  adopted  it. 

It  was  not  at  all  likely,  she  said,  that 
Eben  Cornforth  would  get  back  in  time 
to  accomplish  any  work;  it  was  by  no 
means  certain  that  anybody  would  try 


72  THE  M.  M.   C. 

to  re-locate  his  claim  if  he  didn't ;  and 
it  was  most  doubtful  of  all  whether  there 
was  anything  of  value  in  it,  when  all 
was  said.  But  if  there  were,  she  de- 
manded, reaching  her  climax  with  posi- 
tive heat,  what  was  the  best  mine  in  the 
world  worth  compared  with  the  safety 
and  advantage  of  a  boy  like  Lex  Flem- 
ming  ? 

She  was  not  to  be  dissuaded  from 
arguing  the  matter  with  him  herself,  but 
in  this  she  gained  nothing,  and  she  gave 
it  up  at  last  with  a  fairly  good  grace. 

"  Well,  Alexander  Flemming,"  she  said, 
with  a  show  of  dignity,  "  I  think  you're 
a  very  obstinate  boy,  and  it's  no  use  to 
argue  with  you  any  more.  You'll  take 
your  own  way,  I  suppose,  and  though 
it  isn't  my  way,  and  I  don't  like  it  the 
least  bit,  I'm  free  to  say  I  don't  like  you 
any  the  less  for  taking  it." 

The  dignity  was  all  gone  with  the  last 


DANGER  AHEAD,  73 

words,  and  to  show  her  complete  good- 
will she  gave  him  at  parting  a  basket 
filled  with  the  best  stores  of  the  pantry. 
"  Just  to  help  out  the  bacon  and  flap- 
jacks, you  know,"  she  said,  and  she  added 
with  a  smile,  "  If  you  should  change  your 
mind  about  coming  here  when  you  see 
how  good  our  mince  pies  are,  just  remem- 
ber that  the  invitation  stands." 

He  went  off  in  the  best  of  spirits,  but 
it  was  really  a  pity  he  had  not  stayed  a 
little  longer,  for  he  might  have  heard 
a  piece  of  news  of  more  interest  to  him, 
perhaps,  than  to  any  other  person,  except 
one,  in  the  camp.  Mr.  St.  Cloud  had 
learned  it  a  little  ahead  of  the  general 
knowledge,  and  brought  it  with  him  when 
he  came  home  to  supper. 

It  seemed  that  Mr.  Dudleigh  Drayton 
was  "  in  luck  again."  Word  had  just 
been  brought  to  him  of  a  rich  find  in 
the  Nonesuch,  one  of  his  outlying  mines ; 


74  THE  M.  M.   C. 

the  exact  size  of  it  was  not  yet  known 
—  Drayton  had  gone  out  to  investigate ; 
but  if  report  said  true,  he  had  struck  a 
"bonanza,"  and  no  mistake. 

In  answer  to  a  question  from  his  wife, 
Mr.  St.  Cloud  explained  that  the  None- 
such was  located  about  three  miles  north 
of  town,  on  the  farther  side  of  Ben 
Doon. 

"  Why,  that's  the  very  mine  that  Mr. 
Cornforth  has  been  working  in  this  fall, 
and  it's  close  by  the  M.  M.  C. !"  exclaimed 
Alice. 

Mr.  St.  Cloud  said  he  believed  so,  but 
this  evidently  did  not  add  to  his  interest 
in  the  matter.  To  Alice,  however,  it 
brought  a  thrill  of  genuine  excitement. 
Her  first  delighted  thought  was  that  this 
discovery  in  the  Nonesuch  was  an  omen 
of  good  to  Eben  Cornforth 's  claim,  and 
then  it  occurred  to  her  that  there  was 
more  danger  than  before  of  his  losing 


DANGER  AHEAD.  75 

it  if  there  was  any  flaw  in  his  title  at 
the  end  of  the  year.  She  could  hardly 
think  of  anything  else  all  the  evening, 
and  she  wondered  constantly  how  Lex 
would  feel  when  he  knew  it.  One  thing 
was  certain :  he  would  be  more  bent  than 
ever  on  doing  his  utmost  at  that  assess- 
ment work. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

LEX     MAKES    A    THIRD     AT     AN     INTERESTING 
CONFERENCE. 

MEANWHILE  Lex  was  steadily 
pushing  his  way  towards  home. 
There  were  no  long  swift  runs  to  be 
made  now  by  the  aid  of  his  snow-shoes. 
It  was  an  uphill  journey  all  the  way  and 
could  only  be  taken  step  by  step.  Still 
the  distance  did  not  seem  long  to  him. 
He  was  a  strong,  stout-hearted  lad,  and 
he  whistled  blithely  as  he  went  higher 
and  higher  into  the  rugged  whiteness, 
pausing  now  and  then  to  give  a  shout 
of  greeting  to  some  miner  at  his  door, 
or  to  send  a  mocking  answer  to  the  cry 
of  a  coyote  lurking  somewhere  in  the 
shadow  of  the  pines. 
76 


LEX  AT  AN  INTERESTING  CONFERENCE.     77 

The  moon  was  rising  behind  the  cabin 
when  at  last  he  reached  it.  It  was  such 
a  cabin  as  one  finds  everywhere  among 
the  Rockies ;  set  close  against  the 
mountain,  indeed,  partly  within  it,  its 
sides  formed  of  logs  and  clay  and  pro- 
tected by  a  low,  dirt-covered  roof.  But 
Eben  Cornforth  had  a  considerable 
spice  of  Yankee  genius,  and  a  dwelling 
built  by  him  was  sure  to  have  more 
than  the  ordinary  degree  of  mountain 
comfort.  The  window  set  in  the  front 
of  this  was  larger  than  the  average,  the 
door  fitted  better  and  boasted  a  stout 
wooden  latch.  Inside,  too,  there  were 
marks  of  contrivance.  The  stools,  the 
shelves,  the  table  swung  with  leather 
hinges  to  the  side  of  the  room,  and  the 
little  camp-stove,  —  less  picturesque  than 
a  fireplace  of  stones  in  the  corner,  but 
vastly  more  comfortable,  —  all  spoke  of 
a  thrifty  inhabitant. 


/8  THE  M.  M.    C. 

The  darkness  and  emptiness  of  the 
place  threw  a  momentary  gloom  over 
the  boy  as  he  opened  the  door.  Here, 
where  the  old  prospector's  voice  had 
so  often  sounded  in  cheery  welcome, 
the  sense  of  his  absence  came  most 
keenly.  But  a  fire  quickly  lighted  and 
blazing  with  a  crackle,  a  candle  twin- 
kling on  the  table,  and,  above  all,  the 
contents  of  Mrs.  St.  Cloud's  basket  went 
far  to  banish  the  lonesome  feeling. 
How  good  those  pies  and  doughnuts 
were !  If  the  giver  could  have  seen 
the  rate  at  which  they  disappeared,  she 
would  certainly  have  been  convinced 
that  her  worst  fears  were  true  as  to  the 
starvation  fare  on  which  Lex  had  been 
living  during  his  guardian's  absence. 

He  was  thinking  of  her  now,  and  of 
Alice  Hildreth,  as  he  lay  on  the  wolf- 
skin before  the  fire.  Their  hearty 
friendliness  had  more  than  paid  him  for 


'SEATING  HIMSELF  AT  THE  TABLE,  HE  FELL  TO  WORK." 


LEX  AT  AN  INTERESTING  CONFERENCE.     79 

his  trip  to  camp,  though  he  had  missed 
the  letter  which  was  the  chief  object  of 
going.  He  wondered  whether  he  had 
really  expressed  his  appreciation  of  that 
generous  invitation  which  they  had 
urged  so  warmly.  And  then  he  thought 
a  little  sadly  how  pleasant  it  would  have 
been  if  he  could  only  have  taken  advan- 
tage of  the  little  teacher's  offer  to  help 
him  in  his  studies.  With  that  came 
another  thought;  the  evenings  were 
long  and  he  had  nothing  to  do;  why 
not  study  his  arithmetic  by  himself  and 
surprise  her  at  the  end  of  the  week  with 
the  progress  he  had  made  ?  The  idea 
pleased  him  more  and  more  as  he  con- 
sidered it,  and,  springing  to  his  feet  at 
last  with  the  basket  still  not  wholly 
emptied,  he  took  his  arithmetic  and 
slate  from  the  shelf,  and,  seating  him- 
self at  the  table,  fell  to  work.  He  had 
a  faculty  for  figures,  an  "  oncommon 


80  THE  M.  M.   C. 

good  head,"  as  the  old  prospector  some- 
times admiringly  declared,  and  now,  in 
the  glow  of  his  resolution,  he  worked 
swiftly  and  with  no  thought  of  the 
passing  time. 

It  was  the  dulness  of  his  pencil,  and 
the  discovery  of  the  fact  that  his  knife 
was  missing,  which  gave  sudden  pause 
to  his  interest.  To  a  boy  in  his  situa- 
tion the  loss  of  a  good  jack-knife  seemed 
nothing  short  of  a  calamity,  and  when 
he  had  hunted  in  every  pocket,  and 
made  a  rapid  search  through  the  room 
without  finding  it,  Lex  looked  exceed- 
ingly troubled.  A  vigorous  racking  of 
his  memory,  however,  presently  disclosed 
that  he  had  used  the  knife  in  the  mine 
a  short  time  before  starting  for  camp. 
He  thought  he  knew  the  very  spot 
where  he  must  have  left  it,  and  with  an 
impulse  to  recover  it  at  once  if  possible, 
he  seized  his  cap  and  a  bit  of  candle 


LEX  AT  AN  INTERESTING  CONFERENCE.    8 1 

and  hurried  out  of  the  cabin.  The 
M.  M.  C.  was  only  a  few  rods  distant. 
He  would  make  the  search  and  return 
at  once. 

A  minute,  and  he  stood  inside  the 
rocky  opening.  Here  he  paused  and 
lighted  the  candle,  then  took  his  way 
down  the  narrow  tunnel  till  he  came 
to  an  irregular  opening  in  the  left  wall 
close  to  the  top.  It  was  the  mouth  of 
a  small  natural  cave  which  the  pros- 
pector had  opened  in  the  course  of  his 
work.  Lex  had  been  in  it  once  before 
that  day.  It  was  here  that  he  had  used 
his  knife  in  breaking  a  curious  stalactite 
from  the  roof.  He  scrambled  into  it 
again  now,  and  diving  into  one  of  its 
dark,  low  corners,  peered  around  for  his 
missing  treasure.  He  had  not  been 
mistaken.  There  it  was  lying  just  as 
he  had  left  it.  He  gave  a  whistle  of 
joy  at  the  sight  and  was  putting  it  in 


82  THE  M.  M.   C. 

his  pocket  when  he  was  startled  sud- 
denly by  the  sound  of  footsteps  in  the 
passage  outside. 

For  a  moment  the  glad  thought  crossed 
his  mind  that  the  old  prospector  had  re- 
turned. He  crept  forward  with  a  cry. 
Then  the  sound  of  voices  in  conversa- 
tion reached  him,  and  with  a  flashing 
conviction  of  his  mistake,  he  blew  out 
his  candle,  and  crouching  on  the  floor 
of  the  cave  listened  intently. 

At  first  he  could  gather  but  little  of 
the  talk,  for  it  was  carried  on  in  low 
tones,  and  accompanied  frequently  by  the 
blows  of  a  hammer  which  rang  here  and 
there  against  the  rocky  walls,  but  the  boy 
was  not  slow  in  drawing  his  own  conclu- 
sion as  to  this  unexpected  visit.  These 
men,  whoever  they  were,  had  come  to 
make  examination  of  the  M.  M.  C.  Prob- 
ably they  hoped  to  make  the  claim  their 
own  should  the  opportunity  be  theirs  at 


LEX  A  T  AN  INTERESTING   CONFERENCE.     83 

the  end  of  the  year.  So  much  Lex 
guessed  by  the  help  of  his  fears;  but 
when,  listening  strenuously,  he  caught  the 
name  of  the  Nonesuch,  with  allusions  to 
the  rich  vein  just  opened,  he  saw  an  ad- 
ditional reason  for  this  sudden  interest  in 
Eben  Cornforth's  claim. 

Drawing  close  to  the  mouth  of  the  cave, 
he  placed  himself  in  a  better  position  for 
listening,  just  in  time  to  hear  the  louder 
of  the  two  voices  exclaim  :  "  Well,  it  may 
be  the  Old  Gopher  is  on  the  right  track 
this  time.  It  really  looks  that  way." 

Lex  did  not  recognize  the  voice,  but  he 
had  no  trouble  in  recognizing  an  allusion 
to  Eben  Cornforth  under  the  title  of  "  Old 
Gopher,"  a  name  frequently  applied  to 
prospectors  who  have  distinguished  them- 
selves by  making  many  and  futile  "holes 
in  the  ground." 

"It  does,  for  a  fact,"  continued  the  same 
voice  after  a  little  pause  filled  with  the 


84  THE  M.  M.  C. 

clinking  sound  of  the  hammer.  "  It's  one 
of  my  mistakes  that  I  didn't  locate  this 
myself.  I  had  the  chance  before  Corn- 
forth  did." 

"Oh,  well,"  said  the  other  voice,  in 
lower,  fuller  tones,  which  to  the  listener  in 
the  case  suggested  Mr.  Dudleigh  Drayton, 
— "  oh,  well,  we'll  do  something  towards 
correcting  that  mistake  very  soon  now, 
unless  the  Old  Gopher,  as  you  call  him, 
takes  very  positive  means  to  prevent." 

"  Well,  if  he  means  to  do  it,  he'll  have 
to  get  back  here  pretty  quick,"  returned 
the  other.  "  It's  just  as  I  expected ;  his 
assessment  isn't  half  worked  out.  I  know 
how  much  was  done  when  he  quit  work 
last  year,  and  he's  only  done  a  little  drift- 
ing since  then." 

"  I  kept  him  at  work  for  me  till  a  couple 
of  weeks  ago,"  remarked  Mr.  Drayton 
(Lex  was  sure  now  that  he  was  indeed  the 
speaker) ;  "  but  I  can't  say  I  had  this  in 


LEX  AT  AN  INTERESTING  CONFERENCE.     85 

view,"  he  added,  as  if  candor  compelled 
him  to  admit  that  the  result  was  not  due 
to  his  own  clever  designing. 

"  That's  just  Cornforth's  luck,"  grunted 
his  companion.  "  He  never  sees  where 
his  own  advantage  lies  in  time  to  take  it." 

"  His  talents  don't  run  in  that  line,"  re- 
turned Mr.  Drayton  ;  "  but  when  it  comes 
to  hard  work,  why,  Cornforth  has  a  gift  of 
no  mean  order.  For  driving  a  tunnel  on 
a  contract  I  don't  know  any  man  his  equal. 
You  can  always  depend  on  him  to  stand 
by  his  job,  and  do  it  just  as  he  agrees  to." 

"  Oh,  Cornforth  has  a  gift  for  being 
'  poor  but  honest ' ;  there's  no  denying 
that,"  said  the  other,  dryly.  "We  can't 
all  of  us  expect  to  have  the  same  gift,  eh, 
Drayton  ?  " 

There  was  no  audible  response  to  this ; 
but  after  a  moment  Mr.  Drayton  remarked: 
"  I  suppose  there's  just  a  chance  of  Corn- 
forth's getting  back  in  time  to  do  some- 


86  THE   M.  M.   C. 

thing  more  at  this.  He  was  very  much 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  driving 
work  here  a  little  while  ago,  and  threw 
up  a  steady  job  with  me  for  the  sake  of 
getting  at  it." 

"  Yes,  that  was  his  notion  then,"  re- 
plied the  other,  "  but  it  doesn't  count. 
If  his  girl  is  sick,  he  won't  leave  Red- 
ridge  in  a  hurry.  Besides,  he's  got  a 
claim  over  there,  and  most  likely  he'll 
stay  and  work  on  that.  These  pros- 
pectors always  have  a  lot  of  claims  scat- 
tered up  and  down  the  country,  —  twice 
as  many  as  they  can  look  after.  I'll  war- 
rant that  if  Cornforth  doesn't  hear  of 
the  Nonesuch,  —  and  in  this  weather 
news  doesn't  travel  fast,  —  he  won't  get 
back  to  Silvercrest  in  time  for  this." 

There  was  a  moment  of  silence.  Then 
Mr.  Drayton  said,  with  a  ripple  of  amuse- 
ment in  his  low,  quiet  tones,  "  We  were 
talking  about  re-locations  at  St.  Cloud's 


LEX  AT  AN  INTERESTING   CONFERENCE.     87 

the  other  morning,  and  that  little  cousin 
of  his  said  she  thought  it  was  awfully 
hard  for  a  man  to  have  his  claim  taken 
away  from  him,  if  he  had  meant  to  get 
all  his  work  done.  She  seemed  to  be 
rather  horrified  at  our  New  Year's  busi- 
ness." 

The  remark  was  greeted  with  a  re- 
sounding laugh.  "  Maybe  they  take  the 
will  for  the  deed  in  the  country  where 
she  was  raised,"  retorted  Mr.  Drayton's 
companion ;  "  but  out  here  a  man's  got 
to  show  his  faith  by  his  works  and  do 
it  on  time  or  get  left.  '  It's  every  man 
for  himself  and  the  Devil  take  the 
hindmost.' " 

"Oh,  for  that  matter,"  said  Mr.  Dray- 
ton,  coolly,  "  we  don't  look  out  for  our 
own  advantage  any  more  sharply  here 
than  they  do  back  East.  With  us  the 
stakes  run  higher,  and  call  for  quicker 
play,  that's  all." 


88  THE  M.  M.   C. 

His  companion  added  something,  with 
another  laugh,  but  the  words  were  lost 
to  the  listener  in  the  cave.  A  minute 
later,  when  he  knew  that  they  had  passed 
the  mouth  of  his  hiding-place  without 
pausing,  he  crept  still  closer  to  it  and 
peered  eagerly  after  them.  They  were 
standing  together  at  the  farther  end  of 
the  tunnel,  and  as  the  light  of  their 
candles  fell  on  their  half-turned  faces, 
Lex  saw  them  both  distinctly.  Mr. 
Drayton's  companion,  as  he  had  already 
guessed,  was  a  mining  expert  much  in 
the  employ  of  the  other  gentleman.  He 
had  broken  a  fragment  from  the  wall, 
and  was  examining  it  with  close  atten- 
tion. 

"  Cornforth  has  been  following  a  blind 
lead,"  he  said  at  length.  "  He  hasn't 
cut  the  true  vein,  but  in  the  light  of 
the  Nonesuch  it  looks  a  good  deal  as  if 
he  was  getting  near  it.  He  was  brag- 


LEX  AT  AN  INTERESTING   CONFERENCE.      89 

ging  the  last  time  I  saw  him  about  the 
showing  here,  and  he  wasn't  altogether 
wrong.  For  that  matter  he  has  more 
sense  than  most  of  the  prospectors.  He 
knows  a  '  hawk  from  a  handsaw  '  when 
he  sees  it." 

He  crumbled  the  lump  of  dark  earth 
in  his  hand  as  he  spoke  and  threw  it 
from  him,  then  brought  his  candle  to 
bear  more  closely  on  the  wall  itself, 
scanning  the  marks  of  labor  on  it 
sharply.  "  It  looks  as  if  some  one  had 
been  working  here  just  lately,"  he  said, 
in  a  puzzled  tone. 

Then  his  eye  was  caught  by  Lex 
Flemming's  pick  which  lay  on  the  floor 
near  him,  beside  a  little  heap  of  rock 
and  earth.  It  was  a  lighter  pick  than 
that  generally  used  by  miners,  and  after 
looking  at  it  an  instant  he  remarked, 
"  If  there  is  anybody  at  work,  it  must 
be  the  boy.  Perhaps  that's  the  way  he 


90  THE  M.  M.    C. 

amuses  himself  while  the  old  man's 
gone." 

If  the  speaker  had  turned  at  that 
moment,  he  might  have  caught  a 
glimpse  of  the  boy  to  whom  he  had  re- 
ferred so  lightly,  his  white  face  framed 
in  the  opening  of  the  wall,  and  his  eyes 
blazing  through  the  darkness  like  those 
of  some  hunted  animal.  When  he  did 
turn,  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen.  Lex, 
aware  that  the  men  were  about  to  re- 
trace their  steps,  had  crept  into  the 
farthest  recess  of  the  cave,  behind  an 
angle  of  its  jagged  wall. 

He  had  not  done  it  too  soon.  A 
moment  later  he  heard  Mr.  Drayton  ex- 
claim, "What's  this?  Have  they  been 
blasting  out  up  here  ?  " 

He  was  standing  before  the  mouth  of 
the  cave,  stretching  himself  up  and 
peering  in  with  an  expression  of  curi- 
osity. 


LEX  AT  AN  INTERESTING   CONFERENCE.    91 

"  Oh,  that's  a  natural  cave,"  replied 
his  companion,  coming  up  behind  him, 
and  looking  for  an  instant  over  his 
shoulder.  "  They  open  up  sometimes 
in  these  limestone  deposits.  There's 
another  of  the  same  sort  in  the  Little 
Polly,  over  at  Bedrock.  Cornforth  told 
me  about  this  last  winter,  and  I  looked 
through  it  then.  There's  nothing  in  it. 
Do  you  want  to  go  through  ? " 

"No,  thank  you,"  said  Mr.  Drayton. 
"  I'll  take  your  word  for  it." 

He  had  no  fancy  for  bending  his  neck 
and  crawling  about  in  dark  places  unless 
there  was  something  to  be  gained  by  it, 
something  which  in  his  practical  mind 
took  the  shape  of  probable  business 
advantage.  For  another  moment  the 
light  of  his  candle  shone  on  the  glisten- 
ing roof  of  the  strange  little  room ;  then 
he  turned  away  and  left  it  once  more  to 
darkness  and  the  boy. 


92  THE  M.  M.    C. 

Till  the  last  echoing  footstep  had  died 
away  Lex  kept  his  place,  scarcely  daring 
to  breathe,  and  motionless  as  the  wall 
beside  him ;  then,  with  a  fast-beating 
heart,  he  crept  to  the  mouth  of  the 
cave  and  let  himself  down  to  the  floor 
of  the  tunnel.  The  moonlight  made  a 
shining  path  through  the  open  door, 
and  hurrying  towards  it  he  looked 
eagerly  out.  At  a  little  distance,  climb- 
ing the  hill,  with  their  faces  towards  the 
Nonesuch,  he  could  see  his  late  visitors; 
then,  fearful  lest  with  some  backward 
glance  they  might  still  discover  him,  he 
shrank  once  more  out  of  sight. 

And  then,  for  a  few  short  moments, 
his  heart  swelled  with  an  exulting  sense 
of  triumph.  He  knew  the  secret  of 
these  men,  but  they  did  not  know  his. 
They  did  not  guess  that  their  words  had 
fallen  into  the  ear  of  one  who  would  do 
his  utmost  to  thwart  them. 


LEX  AT  AN  INTERESTING  CONFERENCE.    93 

His  utmost !  Ah,  the  thought  came 
next,  like  a  rushing  wave,  sweeping 
away  the  poor  brief  sense  of  triumph, 
that  the  utmost  he  could  do  was  all  too 
little  against  this  impending  danger. 
It  was  the  danger  he  had  foreseen  from 
the  first,  but  it  wore  a  new  look  to  him 
now  in  the  sudden  and  definite  shape  it 
had  just  assumed.  If  Eben  Cornforth 
should  not  come  back  in  time !  The 
cold  sweat  started  on  the  boy's  forehead 
as  he  faced  the  thought.  It  seemed  to 
him  he  could  not  stand  by  and  see  the 
fortune  for  which  the  old  man  had  toiled 
so  long  slip  from  his  hand  into  the  grasp 
of  others. 

For  there  was  a  fortune,  there  must 
be  a  fortune,  in  the  M.  M.  C,  since  Dud- 
leigh  Drayton  wished  to  possess  it! 
Perhaps  no  other  fact  could  have  meant 
so  much  to  Lex  Flemming.  And  then 
his  thoughts  turned  with  a  sudden  fierce- 


94  THE  M.  M.   C. 

ness  upon  Drayton  himself.  Till  now 
this  man  had  been  a  hero  to  the  boy. 
He  had  gloried  in  his  large  successes 
and  offered  him  a  shy  devotion,  but 
the  feeling  was  swept  away  in  a  tide 
of  swift  revulsion.  He  felt  that  he 
hated  the  shrewd,  prosperous  man,  and 
he  longed  for  the  power  to  defeat  and 
defy  him. 

And  then,  in  the  midst  of  his  anger 
and  bitterness,  like  the  touch  of  some 
quieting  angel,  came  the  thought  of 
Alice  Hildreth  and  the  memory  of 
words  she  had  spoken  only  a  few  hours 
before.  He  wondered  what  she  would 
say  to  this, — she,  who  had  been  so  sure 
that  all  must  come  right  if  only  he  did 
his  duty  steady  and  true.  If  she  would 
say  it  again  with  that  same  look  in  her 
eyes,  it  seemed  to  Lex  that  he  could 
believe  it  still,  in  spite  of  Dudleigh 
Drayton  and  the  world. 


LEX  AT  AN  INTERESTING  CONFERENCE.    95 

With  slow  steps  he  walked  back  to 
the  cabin.  His  arithmetic  was  lying 
open  on  the  table,  but  there  was  no 
interest  for  him  now  in  its  pages.  The 
only  problem  that  he  cared  to  solve 
was  this  of  the  M.  M.  C. 

Presently  he  threw  himself  on  the 
bunk  in  the  corner,  with  its  bed  of  pine 
needles  and  blankets,  and,  troubled  as 
he  was,  he  was  soon  asleep. 


CHAPTER   V. 

IN    LEAGUE    FOR   DEFENCE. 

AACHEN  Lex  woke  the  next  morn- 
'  ing,  the  sun,  an  hour  high,  was 
shining  in  at  the  window  of  the  little 
cabin.  He  started  to  his  feet  and,  for 
a  moment,  wondered  whether  his  ex- 
perience of  the  night  before  had  not 
been  all  a  dream.  But  a  very  little 
wide-awake  reflection  convinced  him  of 
its  reality,  and  brought  back  the  anxiety 
in  which  he  had  fallen  asleep.  He 
made  a  hasty  breakfast  and  then  started 
for  the  Nonesuch ;  for  he  could  not  set 
himself  to  his  ordinary  work  till  he  knew 
what  the  discovery  was  which  had  so 
soon  brought  its  influence  to  bear  on 
the  M.  M.  C. 

96 


IN  LEAGUE  FOR  DEFENCE.  97 

The  Nonesuch  was  a  comparatively 
new  property.  Not  much  money  had 
been  spent  as  yet  either  on  buildings 
or  machinery,  and  only  a  few  men  were 
employed  in  the  work.  This  morning, 
however,  its  brightening  fortunes  were 
already  apparent.  Mr.  Drayton  and  the 
foreman  were  standing  by  the  ore-house 
as  he  approached,  evidently  laying  plans 
for  its  enlargement.  Neither  of  them 
observed  him,  and  he,  holding  his  head 
a  little  higher  than  usual,  passed  directly 
to  the  entrance  of  the  mine.  This  was 
not  a  tunnel  like  that  of  the  M.  M.  C., 
but  a  shaft  descending  straight  into  the 
mountain.  A  moment  later,  after  a 
quick  descent  in  an  ore-bucket,  he  stood 
among  the  workmen  at  the  bottom. 
They  were  old  acquaintances  and  willing 
enough  to  detail  the  news  of  yesterday. 

"  It's  a  three-foot  vein  of  the  best  ore 
in  these  diggin's,"  said  one  of  them, 


98  THE  M.  M.    C. 

"  and  if  it  don't  boom  everything  on 
this  hill  come  spring,  I'm  a  tenderfoot. 
We  got  onto  it  about  noon  yesterday, 
and  you  can  bet  your  life  all  hands 
were  glad  of  the  change.  We've  been 
breaking  our  drills  for  the  last  month 
on  the  hardest  piece  of  granite  that  was 
ever  stuck  in  the  way  of  a  tunnel,  and 
the  boss  himself  was  getting  sick  of 
the  job.  '  If  we  don't  get  through  this 
before  long,  boys,  we'll  try  it  on  another 
tack,'  says  he,  yesterday  morning,  and 
it  wasn't  six  hours  afterwards  that  we 
broke  into  this.  I  put  in  the  shot 
myself  that  did  the  business." 

He  turned  again  to  his  work  with 
the  remark,  "  I  reckon  you'll  be  look- 
ing for  something  of  this  sort  in  the 
M.  M.  C.  Old  Hopeful  will  think  he's 
got  a  sure  thing  now." 

"  Oh,  we've  known  that  from  away 
back,"  said  the  boy,  coolly;  but  he  did 


IN  LEAGUE   FOR  DEFENCE.  99 

not  wait  for  further  conversation.  He 
did  not  want  to  be  asked  any  questions 
about  the  state  of  the  work,  or  the 
time  when  he  expected  Eben  Cornforth 
home. 

As  he  turned,  he  came  face  to  face 
with  Mr.  Drayton,  who  had  descended 
the  shaft  during  the  talk.  "  Good  morn- 
ing, Lex,"  said  that  gentleman,  cheer- 
fully. "  Are  you  looking  for  a  job  ? 
If  you  are,  we'll  take  you  on  right 
away.  We  need  more  hands  in  here." 

There  was  a  heartiness  in  his  manner 
to  which  the  boy  gave  no  response. 
An  angry  flush  had  risen  in  his  face. 
"  I  don't  want  any  job  but  the  one  I've 
got,"  he  said  stiffly.  "  I'm  putting  all 
my  time  on  the  M.  M.  C." 

Mr.  Drayton  raised  his  eyebrows 
slightly.  "  Oh,  then  you  have  your 
hands  full,"  he  said ;  and  in  another 
moment  the  two  had  passed. 


TOO  THE  M.  M.   C. 

That  day  Lex  worked  as  he  had 
never  worked  before.  One  watching  him 
might  have  wondered  what  prize  had 
been  offered  for  the  strokes  which  fell 
from  his  pick  so  hard  and  fast.  It 
seemed  to  the  boy  himself  that  new 
power  had  been  given  to  his  arms,  but 
there  were  moments  when  his  heart 
grew  faint  under  the  bitter  question, 
Was  it  for  the  man  he  loved  that  he 
was  spending  his  strength,  or  would  it 
in  the  end  turn  only  to  the  advantage 
of  his  enemy? 

As  the  day  wore  on,  and  weariness 
came,  his  doubts  grew  deeper,  and  the 
longing  to  talk  his  trouble  over  with 
some  friend  took  strong  possession  of 
him.  It  seemed  to  him  he  could  not 
bear  this  thing  alone,  and  with  the 
feeling  came  more  and  more  often  the 
thought  of  Alice  Hildreth.  She  was 
only  a  girl ;  she  could  not  help  him- 


IN  LEAGUE  FOR  DEFENCE.  IOI 

He  said  it  to  himself  over  and  over, 
but  the  remembrance  of  her  sympathy 
brought  insistently  back  the  desire  to 
see  her  and  tell  her  all  his  anxiety.  It 
would  be  worth  something  just  to  know 
that  she  cared. 

With  steady  patience  he  finished  his 
day's  work ;  then,  when  all  the  world  was 
growing  dark,  without  as  well  as  within 
the  tunnel,  he  left  the  place.  Supper  and 
a  visit  to  the  snares  he  had  set  among  the 
pines  held  him  for  another  hour.  A  pres- 
ent of  £ame  for  Mrs.  St.  Cloud  would  be 

O 

a  fine  excuse  for  the  visit,  he  said  to  him- 
self, and  the  luck  which  awaited  him  in 
the  shape  of  a  splendid  pair  of  "snow- 
shoe  rabbits  "  seemed  a  good  omen.  The 
trip  to  camp  in  the  keen  bracing  air 
helped  to  raise  his  spirits,  and  when  Alice 
Hildreth  met  him  at  the  cottage  door 
there  was  nothing  in  his  face  to  suggest 
that  anxiety  was  the  cause  of  his  coming. 


102  THE   M.  M.   C. 

She  was  alone  in  the  house  with  Tommy, 
and  the  welcome  they  both  gave  him 
might  have  lightened  a  heavier  heart 
than  his. 

"  Oh,  I'm  so  glad  you've  come,  Lex," 
said  the  child,  "for  papa  and  mamma  have 
gone  out  for  all  this  evening,  and  I'm  to 
sit  up  as  long  as  I  please  with  Cousin 
Alice,  and  she's  going  to  tell  me  stones. 
I  guess  she'll  let  you  hear  them,  too." 

The  girl  sent  a  rather  rueful  look  at  her 
visitor.  Now  he  had  come  she  would 
have  liked  to  put  her  charge  to  bed,  but 
Lex  smiled  good-naturedly  at  Tommy. 
After  the  strain  of  the  last  twenty-four 
hours  it  was  a  relief  to  think  of  something 
besides  work  and  trouble,  and  for  his  talk 
with  Alice  he  could  wait.  There  was 
sure  to  be  a  chance  by  and  by. 

But  the  story-telling  was  quickly  made 
over  to  him,  and  the  theme,  rabbits,  was 
one  on  which  he  was  extremely  well 


IN  LEAGUE   FOR   DEFENCE.  103 

posted.  He  told  his  eager  young  lis- 
tener all  about  the  beautiful  pair  he  had 
brought,  how  they  changed  the  gray  coats 
they  had  worn  in  summer  for  white  ones 
when  the  hills  put  on  their  winter  cover- 
ing, and  how  they  gained  their  peculiar 
name  from  their  broad,  flattened  feet  so 
well  adapted  to  travel  on  the  fields  of 
snow.  It  was  not  as  easy  to  find  them 
about  Silvercrest  now  as  it  had  been  once, 
for  their  race  had  suffered  in  the  long 
blockades  when  people  hunted  them  in 
every  corner  to  eke  out  their  slender  store 
of  provisions.  All  this,  with  tales  of  his 
own  fortune  in  many  a  rabbit  hunt,  Lex 
told  in  answer  to  the  child's  swift  ques- 
tions; but  the  little  fellow's  eyes  grew 
sleepy  at  last,  and  the  promise  that  some 
day  he  should  himself  go  hunting  with 
Lex  sent  him  amiably  off  to  bed. 

And    now  it  was  time   for   that   other 
story,  the  story  which  was  for  Alice's  ear 


IO4  THE  M.  M.   C. 

alone.  The  boy  did  not  wait  when  his 
opportunity  came.  "  Miss  Hildreth,"  he 
began,  with  a  look  of  trouble  on  his  bright 
face,  which  had  not  been  there  before,  "  I 
came  down  to-night  on  purpose  to  tell  you 
something.  I  don't  know  as  I  ought  to 
bother  you  with  it,  but  it  seems  as  if  I 
must  tell  somebody,  and  you've  been  so 
good  to  me  and  Uncle  Eben.  Things 
look  worse  than  they  did  for  the  M.  M.  C. 
Something's  happened  since  I  was  here 
yesterday." 

"  You  mean  the  strike  in  the  None- 
such ?"  cried  Alice.  "Oh,  I  thought  of 
you  when  I  first  heard  of  that." 

"  Yes,  the  Nonesuch  is  at  the  bottom 
of  it,"  said  the  boy.  "  You  see  they've 
made  a  great  find  in  there,  and  that  can't 
help  meaning  something  to  us,  we're  so 
close  to  it.  Of  course  it  would  be  the  best 
kind  of  luck  for  us  if  it  wasn't  for  the  way 
our  assessment  work  stands,  but  now  —  " 


IN  LEAGUE  FOR   DEFENCE.  1 05 

He  paused  an  instant,  and  Alice  ex- 
claimed :  "  That's  just  what  I  was  afraid 
of!  You  think  now  there's  more  danger 
than  before,  that  people  will  try  to  get 
it  away  from  you." 

"  I  don't  '  think'  I  know  it,"  cried  the 
boy.  "  They  were  in  there  last  night, 
Drayton  and  Kempton,  and  they  make 
sure  of  getting  it  when  the  new  year 
comes." 

He  told  his  story  now  with  flashing 
eyes  and  tense,  nervous  voice,  repeating 
the  conversation  he  had  overheard,  and 
not  omitting  the  allusion  to  her  nor  the 
opinion  which  had  been  ventured  as  to 
the  way  in  which  he  amused  himself.  It 
was  a  climax  of  excitement  at  which  his 
listener's  cheeks  grew  pale  when  he  told 
how  these  men  had  stopped  at  the  mouth 
of  his  hiding-place,  within  the  very  sound 
of  his  smothered  breathing,  and  turned 
away  again  all  unconscious  of  his  presence. 


IC»6  THE  M.  M.   C. 

"  They  said  there  was  nothing  in 
there,  but  I  was  there,"  he  ended  bit- 
terly. "  Maybe  I  don't  count  for  any- 
thing, but  if  I  could  only  spoil  their 
game  ! " 

He  stopped  with  his  lips  drawn  hard, 
and  for  an  instant  Alice  could  not  speak. 
She  had  listened  to  this  story  with  her 
heart  swelling  as  if  it  would  burst.  To 
her  these  midnight  visitors  seemed  no 
better  than  plotting  robbers,  the  worst 
of  robbers  indeed,  since  they  would  take 
advantage  of  the  old  man's  absence  to 
rob  him  of  his  treasure. 

"  Oh,  Lex,"  she  cried,  starting  to  her 
feet,  "  what  can  we  do  ?  We  must  do 
something  to  stop  them." 

If  she  had  poured  out  a  torrent  of 
sympathy,  it  would  not  have  meant  as 
much  to  Lex  as  that  little  word  "  we." 
It  filled  him  with  a  quick,  sweet  sense  of 
companionship  in  his  trouble.  He  lifted 


IN  LEAGUE  FOR   DEFENCE.  IO/ 

his  eyes  gratefully  to  hers,  but  shook 
his  head  as  he  answered  slowly,  — 

"  I  can't  see  any  sure  way  out  of  it 
unless  he  gets  back  in  time.  I  wrote 
him  a  letter  this  morning,  and  when  he 
gets  it  he'll  know  how  things  stand. 
But  he  may  miss  of  getting  it;  and  if 
she's  worse,  he  won't  pay  any  attention 
to  it ;  I  know  that.  If  I  could  only  get 
somebody  to  work  in  his  place,  it  would 
fix  everything,  but  there's  the  trouble." 

"  Why,  there  must  be  plenty  of  men 
about  here,"  cried  Alice,  catching  at  this 
new  idea. 

"  Not  so  many  as  there  were  a  while 
back,"  said  Lex.  "  It's  the  worst  time 
in  the  year  to  get  help  in  a  place  like 
this.  The  prospectors  are  mostly  work- 
ing out  their  own  assessments,  —  we're 
not  the  only  ones  in  the  lurch,  —  and 
the  rest,  that  are  good  for  anything, 
have  got  some  job  for  the  winter.  Still, 


108  THE   M.  M.   C. 

there 'd  be  a  chance  for  me  if  I  only  had 
the  money  to  pay,  but  Uncle  Eben  didn't 
leave  me  any  to  speak  of.  He  wasn't 
caring  about  the  work,  anyway,  and  I 
suppose  he  thought  he  might  need  all 
he  had  for  her," 

The  light  of  a  sudden  hope  had  kindled 
in  the  girl's  blue  eyes.  Was  it  a  ques- 
tion of  money,  then  ?  "  Oh  !  "  she  cried, 
and  then,  with  her  breath  coming  quick, 
"  How  much  would  it  take  ?  " 

"  Let  me  see,"  said  the  boy.  "  Uncle 
Eben  had  put  in  five  days'  work  when 
he  went  away,  and  at  three  dollars  a 
day  — "  He  paused,  but  Alice's  thought 
leaped  to  the  end  of  the  calculation 
quicker  than  his. 

"  Then  eighty-five  dollars  would  pay 
for  the  work  that's  left  to  be  done  ? "  she 
asked. 

"  Oh,  fifty  would  cover  it,"  said  the  boy, 
"for  there's  all  my  work.  But  there's 


IN  LEAGUE  FOR  DEFENCE.  1 09 

no  use  talking  of  money,"  he  added,  al- 
most impatiently.  "  I  haven't  got  five 
dollars,  not  to  speak  of  fifty." 

"  Yes,  you  have,  Lex,"  said  Alice,  lean- 
ing forward  and  laying  both  her  hands 
on  his.  "  Yes,  you  have,  for  /'ve  got  it, 
and  it  shall  be  your  own  for  this." 

He  looked  at  her  in  such  utter  aston- 
ishment, that  she  repeated  more  slowly. 
"  I  tell  you  it  is  yours,  yours  to  use  for 
him  on  this  work  in  the  M.  M.  C.  I 
only  need  enough  money  to  get  home, 
and  I  have  a  great  deal  more  than  that, 
for  the  St.  Clouds  wouldn't  take  a  cent  for 
my  board.  Oh,  I  feel  as  if  I  had  been 
earning  it  for  this  very  purpose." 

The  tears  rushed  into  the  eyes  of  the 
boy.  "Oh,  Miss  Hildreth,"  he  began, 
but  she  would  not  let  him  finish. 

"  No,  no,  don't  thank  me,"  she  said. 
"  Don't  say  a  word.  Oh,  if  you  knew 
how  glad  I  am  to  do  it!  Why,  I'm  the 


1 10  THE  M.  M.    C. 

one  to  be  grateful  myself  for  having  such 
a  chance." 

He  turned  his  face  away  for  a  moment, 
and  the  tears  came  faster  than  before. 
Was  ever  another  friend  who  gave  help 
like  the  little  teacher? 

"  He\\  thank  you,"  he  said  at  last,  in 
a  broken  voice.  "  And  he'll  pay  you 
back,  too.  Nobody  ever  lost  a  dollar  by 
him.  But  if  anything  should  happen 
that  he  couldn't,  I'll  pay  you  myself  with 
the  very  first  money  I  earn." 

"  The  pay  I  want  is  the  right  to  feel 
that  I've  helped  him,"  she  cried.  "  Oh, 
if  his  fortune  should  come  after  all  these 
years,  and  you  and  I  had  helped  to  bring 
it ! "  She  clasped  her  hands  in  a  trans- 
port of  happiness.  Then,  with  a  sudden 
anxiety,  queried,  "  But  are  you  perfectly 
sure  you  can  get  somebody  ? " 

"  I'll  rustle  round  pretty  lively,  and  see 
if  I  can't,"  said  the  boy.  There  was  a 


IN  LEAGUE   FOR   DEFENCE.  Ill 

new  note  of  courage  in  his  voice.  He 
dropped  his  head  with  the  air  of  one 
thinking  intently,  and  she,  seeing  his  pre- 
occupation, was  silent,  too.  In  the  still- 
ness of  her  thoughts  she  reviewed  the 
rather  startling  step  she  had  just  taken, 
but  without  the  slightest  misgiving.  She 
was  a  New  England  girl,  trained  to  the 
most  careful  use  of  money,  but  she  felt 
sure  that  every  member  of  the  household 
at  home  would  approve  her  action  in 
this  matter.  She  could  hear  her  father 
say  in  his  hearty  voice,  "You  did  right, 
my  child  ;  you  did  right."  And  she  could 
see  her  mother  turn  her  face  away  lest 
the  smile  of  tender  approval  in  her  eyes 
should  melt  too  quickly  into  tears.  She 
started  when  Lex  spoke  again,  and  from 
the  home  scene  which  had  risen  so  vividly 
before  her  brought  back  her  thoughts  to 
the  scene  which  was  passing  here. 

"  I  think  my  best  way  would  be  to  try 


112  THE  M.  M.   C. 

to  get  one  of  the  Glynns,"  he  said. 
"  There's  two  brothers  of  them,  and  they 
are  working  on  their  own  claim,  the 
Lonely.  They're  Cornishmen,  and  sharp 
after  the  money,  but  first-rate  miners  and 
the  kind  you  can  tie  to.  Jerry  was  in  for 
supplies  three  weeks  ago,  and  I  heard 
him  telling  that  they  were  about  through 
with  their  assessment  then." 

The  details  of  this  plan  shaped  them- 
selves as  he  spoke,  and  he  added,  "  I'll 
start  out  for  him  by  daylight  to-morrow. 
It's  a  big  trip  to  the  Lonely,  and  up-grade 
most  all  the  way,  but  that  makes  it  down 
hill  coming  back,  and  if  he  agrees,  we  may 
get  in  again  by  night.  I  guess  he  will ; 
I'll  tell  him  I've  got  the  money  to  pay." 

"Yes,  tell  him  that,"  said  Alice;  "but 
don't  say  a  word  about  me.  It's  just  the 
same  as  if  Mr.  Cornforth  had  left  it. 
Hadn't  I  better  get  the  money  now  ? " 
she  added,  rising. 


IN  LEAGUE   FOR  DEFENCE.  113 

"  No,  we  don't  have  to  pay  in  advance, 
and  if  anything  should  happen  to  me  on 
the  way,  'twould  be  lost,  you  know,"  said 
the  boy.  "  I'd  rather  wait  till  I  get  back." 
He  said  the  words  so  lightly  that  they 
scarcely  made  an  impression  on  her 
thought. 

"  All  right,"  she  said,  "  I'm  ready  when- 
ever you  are."  And  then  she  added 
earnestly,  "  But  you  must  be  sure  to 
come  and  see  me  as  soon  as  you  get 
back ;  I  shall  be  so  anxious  to  know 
whether  you  succeed." 

"  I'll  report,  if  I  can,  to-morrow  night, 
or  at  any  rate  by  noon  the  next  day,"  he 
said.  "  You  shall  hear  from  me  within 
thirty-six  hours." 

He  rose  as  he  spoke,  and  put  out  his 
hand  as  if  to  seal  the  promise.  For  a 
moment'  they  stood  looking  into  each 
other's  eyes  like  two  children  with  a 
secret  between  them,  and  a  boundless 


H4  THE  M-  M-  c- 

trust,  each  in  the  heart  of  the  other. 
Then  Lex  said,  "  I  must  be  getting  home 
now,  if  I'm  to  make  that  trip  in  good 
shape  to-morrow." 

She  did  not  try  to  detain  him.  They 
said  good  night  a  few  minutes  later,  and 
the  boy  passed  out  of  the  cottage ;  but 
when  he  had  crossed  the  threshold  he 
turned  back  to  say,  with  his  heart  in  his 
voice,  — 

"  There's  nobody  but  you  that  would 
have  done  it,  Miss  Hildreth,  and  we'll 
never  forget  it  of  you,  Uncle  Eben  and 
I,  never." 

He  choked  as  he  said  the  last  word, 
then,  with  another  good  night,  he  was 
off. 

Till  his  swift,  dark  figure  was  out  of 
sight,  Alice  stood  holding  her  lamp  in 
the  doorway,  watching;  and  when  she 
returned  to  her  place  by  the  fire  her  heart 
still  followed  him.  Of  the  long,  hard 


IN  LEAGUE   FOR  DEFENCE.  115 

journey  he  would  undertake  in  the  morn- 
ing she  took  little  thought.  In  fancy 
she  saw  him  already  returned,  his  errand 
crowned  with  success,  and  that  success 
seemed  to  her  eager  hope  the  sure  be- 
ginning of  the  better  days  for  which  the 
old  prospector  had  waited  so  long  and 
patiently. 

When  the  St.  Clouds  came  home,  they 
found  her  still  sitting  by  the  fire,  an  un- 
usual brightness  in  her  eyes,  and  a  soft, 
warm  color  in  her  cheeks.  "  So  you 
stayed  up  for  us,  in  spite  of  my  telling 
you  not  to,"  said  Mrs.  St.  Cloud,  dropping 
into  a  chair  beside  her.  "  It  was  naughty, 
but  I'm  glad  you  did;  for  I  can't  wait  to 
tell  you  about  the  entertainment  we've 
planned  for  Christmas  eve  at  the  school- 
house.  We  want  you  to  help  us  in  get- 
ting up  some  tableaux." 

"  I'll  do  everything  I  can,"  said  Alice, 
cordially.  "  I  may  be  here  myself  to 


Il6  THE  M.  M.   C. 

share  the  fun  when  the  evening  comes, 
you  know." 

It  was  the  first  time  she  had  ever 
admitted  the  possibility,  but  she  did  it 
cheerfully  now.  Her  longing  to  go  home 
was,  for  the  time,  quite  swallowed  up  in 
the  desire  to  see  the  end  of  this  strange 
drama  in  which  she  had  so  suddenly  be- 
come an  actor. 

Mrs.  St.  Cloud  brought  her  hands  to- 
gether with  a  soft  little  clap,  and  her 
husband  gave  his  cousin  a  smile  of  pecul- 
iar approval. 

"You're  a  sensible  girl,  Alice,"  he  said. 
"  I  knew  you  were  made  of  the  right  sort 
of  stuff  when  I  brought  you  up  here." 

For  a  moment,  in  the  glow  of  pleasure 
which  his  words  gave  her,  Alice  felt  that 
she  would  like  to  tell  him  everything 
which  had  passed  that  evening  between 
herself  and  Lex,  but  a  moment's  hesita- 
tion killed  the  impulse.  She  remembered 


IN  LEAGUE  FOR  DEFENCE.  II? 

too  well  the  impatience  he  had  once  ex- 
pressed towards  mining  men  who  allowed 
their  claims  to  go  unworked  till  the  last 
month  of  the  year,  to  feel  that  he  would 
have  any  sympathy  with  Eben  Cornforth 
in  the  danger  that  now  threatened  his 
property,  and  it  was  not  easy  to  speak 
of  the  assistance  which  she  herself  had 
promised.  That  it  was  best  to  do  what 
she  had  done,  incomparably  best,  was  one 
of  the  things  likely  to  be  hidden  from 
a  man  as  wise  and  prudent  as  Mr.  John 
St.  Cloud.  Nevertheless,  she  felt  a  little 
guilty  in  keeping  her  secret,  and  she  paid 
for  it  by  the  blush  with  which  she  pres- 
ently said  that  she  had  had  a  visit  from 
Lex  Flemming  that  evening,  and  that 
he  had  brought  a  pair  of  rabbits  for 
Mrs.  St.  Cloud. 

"  Oh,  how  nice  of  him  ! "  exclaimed 
the  lady.  "  I've  been  wishing  for  a  week 
that  we  could  have  a  rabbit  pie."  Then, 


Il8  THE   M.  M.   C. 

with  a  quick  note  of  inquiry  in  her  voice, 
"  Perhaps  he's  beginning  to  think  better 
of  staying  with  us  ?  I  hope  you  urged 
the  invitation." 

Alice  laughed.  If  Mrs.  St.  Cloud  only 
knew  how  far  such  suggestion  had  been 
from  their  talk  that  evening !  "  Hell 
not  change  his  mind  about  that,"  she 
said  decidedly.  "  He's  not  thinking  of 
anything  now  but  the  work  in  the 
M.  M.  C." 

"  Well,  he  ought  to  change  his  mind," 
replied  Mrs.  St.  Cloud,  and  she  appealed 
the  question  to  her  husband,  whether 
it  were  not  the  height  of  folly  for  Lex 
to  refuse  a  comfortable  home  in  his  guar- 
dian's absence  for  the  sake  of  standing 
by  the  M.  M.  C.,  as  he  called  it. 

Mr.  St.  Cloud  was  moving  from  the 
room,  looking  rather  sleepy.  "  Well,  I 
guess  his  standing  by  the  M.  M.  C.  won't 
make  much  difference  one  way  or  an- 


IN  LEAGUE  FOR  DEFENCE.  119 

other,"  he  said ;  "  but  let  him  do  as  he 
pleases.  Most  likely  he's  shy  about  com- 
ing here.  I  was  shy  myself  at  his  age." 

Mrs.  St.  Cloud  looked  as  if  she  rather 
doubted  the  statement,  but  she  only  said, 
with  a  shake  of  her  head,  that  if  Lex 
came  to  grief  in  his  lonesome  life,  it 
would  not  be  her  fault,  but  rather  the 
fault  of  those  who  had  not  helped  her 
to  overcome  his  scruples. 

Alice's  only  response  to  this  was  a 
radiant  smile.  There  was  no  room  in 
her  happy  heart  to-night  for  the  fear  that 
any  harm  would  come  to  Lex  in  acting 
the  unselfish  part  he  had  chosen. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

WAITING    FOR   TIDINGS. 

IT  was  a  dull,  gray  world  to  which  Alice 
woke  on  the  morning  after  that  visit 
from  Lex.  The  tops  of  the  mountains 
were  all  lost  in  banks  of  dubious-looking 
clouds,  and  there  was  a  chilly  dampness 
in  the  air  which  suggested  more  snow. 

"  Oh,  why  couldn't  it  have  been  pleas- 
ant just  for  to-day ! "  thought  the  girl. 
It  seemed  to  her  that  Nature  ought  to 
have  lent  her  brightest  skies  to  aid  the 
boy  on  his  tedious  journey,  and  she  went 
down  to  breakfast  in  a  depressed  and 
rather  resentful  state  of  mind. 

The  conversation  at  table  did  not 
tend  to  raise  her  spirits.  Mr.  St.  Cloud 
began  it  by  a  casual  remark  about  the 

120 


WAITING  FOR   TIDINGS.  121 

mail-carrier,  who,  it  appeared,  was  ex- 
pected to  leave  camp  on  his  weekly  trip 
that  morning. 

"  Lyford's  got  a  bad  day  for  his  job," 
he  observed,  with  a  glance  out  the  win- 
dow ;  "  I  shouldn't  like  to  be  in  his  shoes 
to-day." 

Alice  started.  "  You  don't  think  he'll 
be  in  any  special  danger,  do  you  ? "  she 
asked,  with  a  troubled  accent  on  the 
words. 

"  Oh,  my  dear,"  cried  Mrs.  St.  Cloud, 
impatiently,  "  don't  you  know  that  people 
are  always  in  '  special  danger '  when  they 
go  about  among  the  mountains  at  this 
season  ?  There  are  no  end  of  things 
that  may  happen." 

The  danger  to  which  her  own  thoughts 
had  been  most  recently  directed  occurred 
to  her  at  that  moment,  and  for  the  girl's 
benefit  she  proceeded :  "  Why,  Mrs.  Haw- 
ley  was  telling  us  last  night  how  her 


122  THE  M.  M.   C. 

brother  was  struck  with  snow-blindness 
going  through  Bailey's  Basin  the  other 
day.  He  had  been  out  all  the  morning 
with  the  snow  in  a  perfect  glare,  and 
before  he  knew  what  was  coming  every- 
thing began  to  grow  indistinct  around 
him.  It  got  worse  and  worse,  till  finally 
he  couldn't  see  his  hand  before  his  face. 
He  wandered  around  in  the  Basin  for 
hours,  and  would  have  frozen  to  death  if 
a  couple  of  miners  hadn't  found  him  just 
at  nightfall.  He  hasn't  been  able  to 
bear  a  ray  of  light  since,  and  the  pain 
in  his  eyes  is  something  fearful." 

It  was  impossible  to  omit  a  single 
detail  with  a  listener  whose  face  showed 
such  interest  as  Alice  Hildreth's.  The 
girl  had  grown  fairly  pale  over  the  story. 
What  if  such  a  fate  as  this  should  befall 
Lex  Flemming,  with  the  possible  differ- 
ence that  help  should  not  reach  him  at 
all? 


WAITING  FOR    TIDINGS.  12$ 

It  was  a  relief  when  Mr.  St.  Cloud 
said  in  a  careless  tone,  "  Well,  there's 
no  danger  of  Lyford's  going  blind  to- 
day. The  last  thing  that's  likely  to 
trouble  him  is  too  much  sunshine  on 
the  snow." 

Alice  sent  him  a  grateful  glance, 
but  the  comfort  his  words  had  given 
was  snatched  away  in  another  moment. 
She  had  just  time  to  draw  a  long  breath 
before  he  added,  "  Of  course  the  real 
danger  a  carrier  has,  on  a  day  like 
this,  is  from  slides.  There's  no  getting 
rid  of  that,  with  the  snow  lying  every- 
where as  heavy  as  it  does  now.  The 
slightest  thing  may  bring  it  down  with- 
out a  moment's  warning." 

"  Oh,  but  surely  people  don't  need  to 
go  through  the  places  where  there  is 
such  danger,"  cried  Alice. 

Mr.  St.  Cloud  shook  his  head. 
"  There  are  no  safe  paths  among  these 


124  THE  M>  M-  c- 

mountains  for  any  long  distances  now," 
he  said.  "  If  a  man  has  far  to  go,  he's 
sure  to  have  to  strike  through  some 
skittish  places.  If  he  isn't  willing  to 
run  his  risk,  and  a  pretty  close  one, 
too,  he'd  better  stay  at  home  in  times 
like  these." 

"  I  don't  think  all  the  mail  in  Chris- 
tendom is  worth  it,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  St. 
Cloud,  "  and  yet,"  she  added  with  a  sigh, 
"  it  would  be  intolerable  to  live  in  a 
place  like  this  without  letters  or  papers." 

"  Of  course  it  would,"  said  her  hus- 
band, "  and  somebody  has  to  take  the 
risk  of  bringing  them  in.  After  all, 
there's  no  use  making  such  a  horror 
of  the  business.  There's  a  certain  fas- 
cination in  the  very  danger,  and  the 
fellow  who  goes  in  for  it  gets  good  pay 
with  lots  of  glory  to  boot." 

He  glanced  from  his  wife  to  Alice  as 
he  spoke,  and  half  smiled  at  the  distress 


WAITING  FOR    TIDINGS.  12$ 

in  her  face.  "  Come,  come,"  he  said, 
giving  her  cheek  a  friendly  pat.  "  I 
thought  you  were  just  the  sort  of  girl 
to  appreciate  that  kind  of  pluck.  You're 
always  telling  Tommy  about  those  old 
heroes  who  spent  their  time  killing 
dragons  and  breaking  each  other's 
heads.  You  fairly  smacked  your  lips 
yesterday  when  you  read, — 

"'Let  me,  this  instant,  rush  into  the  fields, 
And  reap  what  glory  life's  short  harvest  yields.' 

Well,  that's  just  what  your  mail-carrier's 
doing,  and  I  think  you  ought  to  hurrah 
for  him  as  well  as  for  those  old  advent- 
urers." 

She  could  not  help  smiling  at  this, 
but  with  a  quivery  sort  of  smile.  To 
admire  heroism  in  the  abstract  was  one 
thing,  but  to  think  calmly  of  Lex  Flem- 
ming  pushing  his  way  through  the  aw- 
ful dangers  of  these  mountains  was 


126  THE  M.  M.   C. 

distinctly  another.  "  I  don't  think  I 
ever  quite  realized  before  about  these 
snow-slides,"  she  said,  in  a  low  voice. 

It  really  seemed  as  if  Mrs.  St.  Cloud, 
with  the  kindest  heart  in  the  world,  was 
set  to  make  the  girl  miserable  that 
morning.  "  Why,  of  course  you've 
known  about  them,  child,"  she  said. 
"  You  read  in  the  paper  yourself  how 
the  gorges  are  all  packed  with  rocks 
and  timber  that  the  slides  have  brought 
down,  and  how  the  men  who  are  trying 
to  open  the  road  have  to  keep  some  one 
on  the  lookout  all  the  time,  for  fear  of 
other  slides  rushing  down  and  burying 
them." 

Yes,  Alice  had  certainly  read  this  and 
other  facts  not  less  pointed.  She  even 
remembered  making  a  note  of  them  as 
incidents  likely  to  interest  the  friends  at 
home  who  would  want  to  know  all  about 
this  strange,  wild  region  in  the  heart  of 


WAITING  FOR    TIDINGS. 

the  Rockies.  But  it  seemed  to  her  at 
this  moment  as  if  she  were  actually  hear- 
ing of  snow-slides  for  the  first  time,  such 
new  significance  did  the  danger  gain 
from  the  thought  of  Lex  Flemming  and 
his  journey  to  the  Lonely. 

She  was  silent,  looking  so  utterly  de- 
jected, that  Mr.  St.  Cloud  made  haste 
to  say,  "  Well,  don't  think  any  more 
about  snow-slides,  or  snow-blindness,  or 
any  other  of  our  little  pleasantries  up 
here.  We  won't  any  of  us  start  out  to- 
day. As  for  Lyford,  he's  no  tenderfoot. 
He  knows  what  he's  got  before  him  and 
he'll  see  himself  through." 

Far  as  he  was  from  touching  on  the 
real  point  of  the  girl's  anxiety,  his  words 
did  give  her  a  kind  of  relief.  Lex,  too, 
was  "  no  tenderfoot."  No  doubt  he  knew 
what  was  before  him  when  he  decided 
on  his  journey  to  the  Lonely.  "  If  any- 
thing should  happen  to  me  on  the  way  — " 


128  THE  M.  M.   C. 

She  remembered  the  words  now  and 
how  lightly  he  had  said  them.  Those 
perils  which  had  been  so  strangely  absent 
from  her  thoughts  had  surely  been 
present  to  him,  a  mountain  lad  and  "  to 
the  manner  born." 

It  was  poor  comfort,  but  all  she  had 
to  cling  to,  and  she  made  the  best  of  it 
through  that  day.  After  all,  there  was 
no  actual  storm.  The  clouds  hung 
stubbornly  about  the  mountains  and 
threw  out  occasional  flurries  of  snow, 
but  those  were  not  serious  enough  to 
hinder  any  traveller  long  who  had  urgent 
business  before  him,  as  she  gathered 
from  Mr.  St.  Cloud,  when,  wincing  a 
little,  she  referred  again  at  dinner  to  the 
mission  of  the  mail-carrier.  This  was 
worth  something,  and  as  night  came  on 
she  could  not  help  thinking  that  Lex 
might  have  accomplished  his  journey, 
and  even  now  be  drawing  near  with 


WAITING  FOR    TIDINGS.  I2Q 

the  word  he  had  promised  to  bring 
her. 

But  he  did  not  come,  and  after  a  rest- 
less evening,  her  thoughts  made  a  reso- 
lute rebound.  She  said  to  herself  that 
she  ought  not  to  have  looked  for  him  at 
all.  He  had  not  himself  expected  to 
come  to-night.  "  You  shall  hear  from 
me  within  thirty-six  hours;"  that  was 
his  promise,  and  she  must  bide  his  time 
with  patience. 

For  a  while  the  next  morning  it  was 
not  hard  to  keep  her  resolution.  The 
sun  shone  as  it  only  shines  in  Colorado 
in  December,  making  the  mountains 
glisten  as  if  all  the  gold  and  silver  in 
their  cold,  dark  bosoms  had  been  drawn 
forth  by  some  enchanter's  wand  and 
spread  in  burnished  sheets  upon  their 
sides.  The  air  was  as  mild  as  the  air  of 
October,  and  the  whole  camp  seemed 
bestirring  itself  to  a  new  and  cheerful  life. 


130  THE  M.  M.   C. 

"  He'll  certainly  come  this  morning," 
Alice  said  to  herself,  and  with  more 
success  than  on  the  previous  day  she 
tried  to  throw  herself  into  the  interests 
of  those  around  her.  Mrs.  St.  Cloud 
was  busy  with  preparations  for  a  lunch- 
eon party,  and  to  help  her  in  the  mak- 
ing of  various  dainties,  to  "  set  the  house 
to  rights,"  and  add  the  thousand  touches 
that  always  seem  needed  when  company 
is  coming,  were  welcome  occupations. 
But  more  and  more  often  as  the  day 
wore  on,  Alice  stole  to  the  window  and 
sent  a  wistful  glance  down  the  street. 
The  thirty-six  hours  were  passing,  they 
had  almost  passed,  and  still  there  was  no 
sign  of  Lex.  Noon  came  without  him  ; 
the  afternoon  sped  on  its  way,  but  did 
not  bring  him ;  and  now  an  anxiety 
which  could  neither  be  dismissed  nor 
argued  down  took  possession  of  the 
poor  little  watcher.  Was  it  possible 


WAITING  FOR    TIDINGS.  131 

that  he  had  forgotten,  and  was  already 
back  at  his  post  in  the  M.  M.  C.  ?  No, 
the  memory  of  his  look  as  he  gave  her 
his  promise  made  it  easier  to  believe 
anything  than  that. 

If  she  could  have  seen  her  cousin,  she 
would  certainly  have  confided  in  him  now. 
But  Mr.  St.  Cloud  did  not  come  home  to 
his  usual  meal,  and  Mrs.  St.  Cloud  was 
too  much  engrossed  with  company  to  be 
burdened  with  an  anxiety  which  she  would 
feel  so  keenly.  There  was  nothing  for  the 
girl  to  do  but  to  keep  her  secret  in  the 
silence  of  her  own  thoughts,  with  a  des- 
perate effort  not  to  show  her  uneasiness 
too  plainly. 

But  her  face  was  too  transparent  to  con- 
ceal her  feelings.  Her  paleness  was  a 
subject  for  exasperating  sympathy  on  the 
part  of  the  visiting  ladies,  and  more  than 
one,  rallying  her  on  her  supposed  home- 
sickness, ventured  the  cheerful  prediction 


132  THE  M.  M.   C. 

that  the  blockade  was  really  drawing  to  a 
close,  and  she  would  soon  be  free  to  start 
for  home.  As  if  she  cared  for  that  now ! 
As  if  she  cared  for  anything  in  the  whole 
wide  world  except  to  get  tidings  of  Lex 
and  to  know  that  he  was  safe ! 

She  slipped  away  at  last  from  all  the 
talk,  and  in  sheer  desperation  stole  out  of 
the  cottage.  It  seemed  to  her  she  could 
bear  her  suspense  better  in  the  open  air. 
A  fairly  well-beaten  path  led  through  the 
camp,  and  she  followed  it,  not  caring 
where  she  went,  while  her  eyes  moved 
restlessly  along  the  edges  of  the  moun- 
tains and  her  thoughts  brooded  over  the 
one  absorbing  question,  what  had  become 
of  Lex.  If  any  harm  had  befallen  him, 
she  felt  that  she  could  never  forgive  her- 
self for  the  part  she  had  borne  in  starting 
him  on  his  perilous  mission. 

The  path  ended  at  last  in  depths  of 
unbroken  snow,  and  facing  about  she 


THERE  WAS  A  GROUP  OF  THEM  AROUND  A 
RUSTY  OLD  STOVE." 


WAITING  FOR    TIDINGS.  133 

slowly  retraced  her  steps.  As  she  passed 
the  chief  store  of  the  place,  a  wish  that 
Mrs.  St.  Cloud  had  expressed  that  day  for 
some  small  article  of  household  use  came 
suddenly  to  her  remembrance,  and  half 
mechanically  she  opened  the  door. 

The  store,  which  was  devoted  impar- 
tially to  dry-goods  and  groceries,  was  in 
the  same  room  with  the  post-office,  and, 
as  the  girl  remembered  when  she  had 
stepped  inside,  was  a  favorite  gathering- 
place  for  idlers.  There  was  a  group  of 
them  now  around  a  rusty  old  stove  at  the 
further  end  of  the  room,  one  of  them  en- 
grossed in  the  latest  copy  of  The  Moun- 
tain Blast,  and  the  others  intent  on  a 
game  of  checkers,  which  two  of  their 
number  were  playing  as  they  sat  on  a 
couple  of  upright  soap-boxes. 

They  all  glanced  up  as  she  entered  and 
gave  her  respectful  nods  of  recognition. 
For  a  few  moments  their  desultory  con- 


134  THE  M-  M-  c- 

versation  dropped ;  then  it  was  resumed, 
and  Alice,  waiting  at  the  counter  while 
the  clerk  supplied  another  customer,  lis- 
tened almost  unconsciously. 

"  Well,  it  looks  as  if  we  were  getting 
somewhere  near  the  end  of  this  block- 
ade," said  the  man  who  had  been  read- 
ing the  paper.  "  We're  bound  to  have 
an  open  road  in  a  few  days  now,  if 
there  warn't  but  ten  miles  between  our 
men  and  the  Sandville ,  gang  day  before 
yesterday." 

"  Ten  miles  is  a  good  deal  of  road  to 
clear,"  returned  one  of  the  group,  in 
a  less  cheerful  tone,  "when  there's  as 
much  snow  on  it  as  there  is  now; 
specially  when  more's  liable  to  come 
down  any  time  on  top  o'  that." 

"  Well,  there  hain't  been  much  coming 
down  for  the  last  two  days,"  returned 
the  other.  "All  we  need,  to  put  the 
business  through,  is  a  little  more  of 


WAITING  FOR    TIDINGS.  135 

such  weather  as  we've  had  to-day,  and 
for  my  part,  I  b'lieve  we're  going  to  get 
it.  It's  an  off  year  for  long  blockades,  or 
all  the  old-time  reckoning  fails.  What's 
the  use  of  being  shut  in  for  a  month 
last  winter,  if  it  don't  make  us  any  safer 
for  this?" 

The  other  sniffed  contemptuously.  Evi- 
dently he  was  no  great  believer  in  the 
law  of  compensation.  "  The  old-time 
reckoning  ain't  so  powerful  long,"  he 
retorted.  "'Cordin'  to  what  the  Utes 
tell  there's  been  longer  blockades  in 
this  valley  than  any  we've  seen,  and 
there  warn't  any  two  years  between  'em 
neither." 

"  Don't  quote  the  Utes  to  me,"  re- 
turned the  man  of  the  newspaper,  with 
his  cheerfulness  still  unimpaired.  "  I've 
got  no  use  for  Injuns.  I  say  we've  got 
to  get  rid  of  'em.  There's  no  protect- 
ing ourselves  against  their  tales  of  what 


136  THE  M.  M.   C. 

happened  before  the  memory  of  the 
Fifty-niners." 

There  was  a  laugh  at  this,  and  the 
pessimist,  now  fully  roused  to  the  neces- 
sity of  defending  his  gloomy  views,  ex- 
claimed :  "  You  say  we  hain't  had  any 
snow  to  speak  of  for  the  last  two  days. 
I  own  we  didn't  get  much  here  yester- 
day, but  there's  no  knowing  how  much 
of  a  storm  they  had  higher  up  the 
range.  It  won't  surprise  me  any  to  hear 
from  it." 

What  the  cheerful  man  might  have 
replied  to  this  is  not  clear,  for  all  atten- 
tion was  diverted  at  that  moment  by 
the  opening  of  the  door,  and  the  en- 
trance of  a  man  who  looked  a  much- 
worn  and  weather-beaten  traveller. 

At  the  sight  of  him  there  was  a 
burst  of  exclamations  :  "  Hullo,  Sandy  ! 
Howdy  ?  Where'd  you  come  from  ?  " 

The   traveller   returned  -the   greetings, 


WAITING  FOR    TIDINGS.  137 

and  moving  towards  the  stove,  with  a 
long  limping  gait,  spread  out  his  hands 
to  the  warmth.  "  I  come  from  Lone 
Rock  yesterday,  from  Pine  Notch  to- 
day," he  said  hoarsely. 

"  I  reckon  you  must  be  prospectin' 
fer  a  claim  in  the  other  world  to  be 
travellin'  so  fur  across  the  mountings 
now,"  said  one  of  the  checker-players. 

"  Those  that  stay  at  home  may  strike 
at  it  afore  I  do,"  said  the  traveller, 
grimly.  He  looked  from  one  to  another 
of  the  group  in  significant  silence  before 
he  asked,  "  Have  any  of  you  seen  the 
Glynn  boys  lately  ?  " 

Alice  Hildreth  started,  and,  moving  a 
step  nearer  to  the  circle  about  the  fire, 
listened  breathless. 

"  One  of  'em  was  in  fer  supplies  three 
weeks  ago,"  said  the  checker-player. 
"  They  'lowed  then  to  stay  out  at  the 
Lonely  all  winter." 


138  THE  M.  M.   C. 

"Wall,  they  ain't  thar  now,"  said  the 
traveller,  solemnly.  "  An'  what's  more,  the 
cabin  ain't  thar  neither." 

He  paused  for  a  moment;  then,  with 
growing  excitement  in  his  manner,  went 
on,  "  Thar's  been  a  slide  down  the  side 
o'  the  Blue  Bonnet,  and  it's  wiped  off 
the  Glynn  boys'  cabin  slick  'n'  clean. 
I've  jest  come  from  thar,  an'  I  tell  ye 
thar  ain't  so  much  as  a  splinter  nor  a 
dump-pile  left.  Thar  ain't  nothing  left 
but  the  hole  o'  the  Lonely  with  a  great 
rock  rolled  afore  it.  I  clum  the  rock, 
an'  went  in  to  look  fer  the  boys,  but 
they  warn't  thar.  I  reckon  they  went 
down  with  the  wreck." 

His  voice  sank  to  a  whisper  with  the 
last  words;  then,  clearing  his  throat,  he 
continued,  "  I  'low  it  must  have  hap- 
pened sometime  yesterday,  fer  thar  was 
right  smart  of  a  storm  up  that  way.  It 
was  no  one-horse  slide,  I  can  tell  you. 


WAITING  FOR    TIDINGS.  139 

I  could  see  whar  it  started  up  above 
the  bend.  The  ground  was  all  tore  up, 
and  the  pines  had  been  snapped  off 
like  pipe-stems.  I  reckon  ye  wouldn't 
know  the  place,  any  of  ye,  but  I  staked 
a  claim  'longside  of  the  Lonely  once, 
and  I  knowed  it,  like  I'd  know  the  old 
farm  back  in  Posey  County." 

There  was  a  strange  pathos  in  the 
last  words,  coming  as  they  did  upon  his 
wild  description  of  the  ruin  which  had 
been  wrought  so  far  from  the  home  of 
his  boyhood.  His  voice  sank,  and  he 
dropped  on  the  soap-box  from  which 
one  of  the  checker-players  had  consid- 
erately risen. 

There  was  a  minute  of  silence.  The 
gloomy-eyed  man,  who  had  expected  to 
hear  from  the  storm,  looked  round  the 
group  with  lips  significantly  compressed. 
Then  he  said  slowly,  "  I  told  Jerry 
Glynn  'twas  resky  staying  out  there  this 


140  THE   M.  M.    C. 

winter,    but    he    'lowed    they   were    safe 
enough." 

"  Safe !  "  ejaculated  the  traveller,  with 
a  short,  hoarse  laugh.  "  If  thar's  any- 
body safe  in  these  mountains  now,  it's 
them  that's  under  the  snow  already. 
My  pardner  'n'  I've  been  driving  a  tun- 
nel in  a  claim  we've  got,  over  by  the 
Gray  Narrows,  and  the  slides  have  been 
running  mighty  near  us  for  the  last  few 
days.  One  missed  us  by  a  few  rods 
last  Sunday,  an'  the  next  day,  jest  as 
we  were  eating  dinner,  another  came 
whooping  down  right  above  us.  We 
jumped  for  the  tunnel,  and  we  didn't 
make  it  a  bit  too  soon.  The  next 
minute  the  slide  struck  the  cabin  and 
carried  it  off,  dinner  'n'  all.  Pard  'n'  I 
thought  'twas  about  time  for  us  to  quit. 
We  can  stan'  a  middlin'  amount  o'  snow, 
but  when  it  comes  to  having  slides  fer 
steady  diet,  it  takes  away  a  man's  ap- 
petite." 


WAITING  FOR   TIDINGS.  141 

A  grim  smile  passed  round  the  group. 
Then,  as  if  with  common  impulse,  all 
arose. 

"  There  ain't  much  time  to  lose  if 
we're  going  to  get  the  boys  out  to- 
night," said  one,  as  they  moved  together 
towards  the  door. 

"  No,"  responded  another ;  "  but  they'll 
never  know  we've  done  it,  if  they've 
been  under  the  snow  since  yester- 
day." 

In  the  pause  which  followed  the  slam- 
ming of  the  door  it  seemed  to  Alice 
Hildreth  as  if  all  the  world  had  grown 
suddenly  still,  and  all  its  hopes  and  in- 
terests had  died  utterly  away.  She  was 
conscious  of  nothing  except  a  sudden  hor- 
ror, a  weight  which  like  an  avalanche  itself 
seemed  to  have  fallen  upon  and  stopped 
the  very  beating  of  her  heart.  For  a 
minute  longer  she  stood  motionless  in 
her  place,  then  turned  her  white  face 


142  THE  M.  M.    C. 

towards  the  door,  and  without  hearing 
the  voice  of  the  clerk,  who  told  her  that 
she  had  left  her  purchase  on  the  counter, 
passed  silently  out. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

NEWS,    BUT    NOT    LEX. 

A  \  T  AS  this  the  reason,  then,  that  Lex 
had  failed  to  keep  his  promise  ? 
Had  he  sacrificed  his  brave  young  life 
in  the  effort  to  save  the  M.  M.  C.? 

The  questions  rushed  upon  her  as 
she  stood  once  more  under  the  open 
sky.  In  the  anguish  of  them  she  put 
her  hands  before  her  face,  as  if  to  shut 
out  the  sight  of  a  world  which  dealt  so 
cruelly  with  its  children,  and  leaned  with 
a  sudden  faintness  against  the  door  which 
she  had  managed  to  close  behind  her. 

The  next  moment  she  heard  her  cousin's 

voice.      He   was   passing   at   the   instant 

with    Mr.    Drayton,   and    sprang    to    her 

side   with   a   quick   anxiety.      "  My   dear 

143 


144  THE  M-  M-  c- 

girl,  what  has  happened  ?  "  he  cried. 
"Are  you  ill?" 

She  tried  to  speak,  but  could  only 
shake  her  head,  and  Mr.  Drayton  said 
in  a  low  voice,  "  She  has  been  hearing 
about  that  snow-slide." 

"  Oh  !  "  exclaimed  St.  Cloud,  accepting 
the  explanation  with  an  accent  of  relief. 
"  Well,  it's  bad  business,  bad  business, 
but  you  mustn't  let  it  use  you  up  like 
this."  He  looked  at  her  white,  drawn 
face,  as  if  wondering  that  sympathy  with 
strangers  could  carry  her  so  far,  then 
added  soothingly,  "  There  are  almost 
miraculous  escapes  sometimes,  and  for 
that  matter,  it  isn't  absolutely  certain 
that  the  men  were  there." 

He  took  her  on  his  arm  and  moved 
forward,  glad  to  see  that  she  brightened 
a  little  at  the  last  words.  After  all,  was 
it  certain  that  Lex  was  there?  That 
was  the  doubt  at  which  her  thoughts 


NEWS,  BUT  NOT  LEX.  145 

clutched  for  the  moment  with  a  sudden 
hope.  She  would  have  spoken,  but  her 
cousin  had  turned  to  Mr.  Drayton. 

"  I  know  where  this  cabin  was,"  he 
said,  with  a  sort  of  fierce  impatience  in 
his  tone,  "  and  the  place  was  clearly 
unsafe.  It's  amazing  that  men  should 
think  of  staying  in  such  a  spot  for  the 
winter." 

"  But  the  case  is  no  unusual  one,"  said 
Mr.  Drayton,  in  his  cool,  even  tones. 
"  There  are  hundreds  of  such  cabins 
scattered  through  these  mountains.  Men 
live  in  the  track  of  the  avalanche,  and 
know  they're  doing  it,  rather  than  leave 
their  claims  for  the  season.  And  the 
single  cabins  are  not  the  only  ones  in 
danger.  There  are  mines  like  the  Cy- 
clone, and  the  Dare  Devil,  and  the 
Happy-go-lucky,  located  with  all  their 
buildings  in  places  just  as  unsafe.  I  got 
a  letter  the  other  day  from  a  mining 


146  THE  M.  M.   C. 

engineer  up  at  Cyclone.  '  The  slides  are 
booming  round  here,'  he  writes.  '  There's 
no  knowing  when  one  in  the  draw  may 
pick  us  up.  If  you  don't  see  me  again 
—  so  long.'" 

"  That's  it,"  said  St.  Cloud,  with  a  nod. 
"  That's  a  sample  of  the  reckless  spirit 
that  seems  to  take  possession  of  some 
people  when  they  get  into  these  moun- 
tains. It's  time  to  put  that  kind  of  dar- 
ing under  bonds  to  common  sense." 

"  And  it's  time  too,"  said  Mr.  Drayton, 
speaking  with  more  emphasis  than  he 
commonly  used,  "for  men  who  invest 
large  sums  in  property  out  here  to  take 
the  dangers  of  this  country  into  full  con- 
sideration. There's  been  too  much  haste 
and  too  little  caution  in  the  setting  up 
of  some  of  our  best  plants  here  in  the 
San  Juan.  I  tell  you  the  whole  question 
of  protection  against  snow-slides  in  this 
region  has  yet  to  be  fairly  grappled  with. 


NEWS,  BUT  NOT  LEX.  147 

There's  no  need  of  having  lives  lost  and 
thousands  of  dollars'  worth  of  property 
smashed  up  every  winter  if  sufficient 
measures  were  taken  to  prevent.  Of 
course  such  measures  involve  time  and 
money,  but  sooner  or  later  they  have  to 
be  taken." 

"  No  doubt  of  it,"  said  St.  Cloud,  "  but 
just  now  there's  too  much  of  a  scramble 
getting  out  the  almighty  dollar  for  most 
people  to  think  of  anything  else." 

He  had  almost  forgotten  the  immediate 
catastrophe  in  discussing  the  general  dan- 
ger. He  remembered  it  again  now,  and 
his  voice  softened,  as  he  said,  with  his 
eyes  resting  on  the  knot  of  men  gather- 
ing down  the  street,  "  There'll  be  a  large 
party  going  out  to  the  Lonely.  No  mat- 
ter how  hardened  our  people  become  to 
the  thought  of  danger  for  themselves, 
they're  all  sympathy  when  some  poor 
fellow  is  actually  caught." 


148  THE  M.  M.   C. 

He  glanced  at  Alice,  and  her  eyes  met 
his  at  that  moment  with  an  imploring 
look.  She  could  speak  now,  and  with  a 
great  effort  said,  "Tell  them  —  tell  them, 
they  must  look  for  Lex  Flemming  too. 
He  went  out  to  the  Lonely  yesterday,  and 
he  hasn't  come  back." 

Mr.  St.  Cloud  stopped  suddenly  in  his 
walk  and  looked  at  his  cousin  as  if  doubt- 
ing whether  he  had  heard  her  right. 
"Lex  Flemming  out  there!"  he  ejacu- 
lated. "  What  on  earth  possessed  the 
boy  to  go?  This  is  serious  business," 
he  added,  turning  to  Mr.  Drayton. 

"  I  should  think  so,"  said  the  latter.  "  Is 
it  certain  that  he  went,  and  that  he  hasn't 
come  back  ? "  he  asked  almost  sharply, 
as  he  turned  to  Alice. 

"  He  said  he  should  go,"  she  faltered. 
"And  I  think  —  oh,  yes,  I'm  sure  —  that 
he  hasn't  come  back.  He  would  have 
come  to  see  me  if  he  had." 


NEWS,   BUT  NOT  LEX.  149 

Mr.  Drayton  did  not  speak  for  a  mo- 
ment. The  surprise  in  his  face  had  given 
place  to  a  look  almost  as  grave  as  hers. 
Then  he  said  quietly,  "  The  men  that 
go  out  must  know  this  and  make  all  pos- 
sible search,"  and,  lifting  his  hat  slightly 
to  the  girl,  he  passed  quickly  down  the 
street. 

Mr.  St.  Cloud  went  on  to  the  cottage 
with  Alice.  The  guests  were  gone,  and 
he  told  his  wife  briefly  of  the  reported 
disaster.  He  did  not  allude  to  the  pos- 
sibility that  Lex  Flemming  was  involved 
in  it.  He  left  that  for  Alice,  only  saying 
as  he  laid  his  hand  on  her  shoulder,  that 
the  girl  was  "a  good  deal  cut  up."  She 
wasn't  used  to  hearing  of  such  things. 

"  The  more  pity  that  any  of  us  are ! " 
cried  Mrs.  St.  Cloud.  Her  eyes  filled 
with  tears,  and  the  resentment  that  was 
always  smouldering  in  her  heart  against 
the  land  of  her  husband's  adoption  flamed 


150  THE  M.  M.   C. 

up  in  her  voice  as  she  added,  "  This  is 
a  cruel,  cruel  country !  It  isn't  right 
that  people  should  try  to  live  here  in 
the  winter.  It's  well  enough  while  sum- 
mer lasts,  but  they  ought  to  go  away 
when  winter  comes  —  everybody  ought 
to  go  away." 

"  Oh,  not  everybody,  every  winter," 
said  her  husband,  rather  beseechingly, 
"  only  those  who  live  in  unsafe  places. 
The  mines  in  these  mountains  will  never 
be  developed  by  people  who  only  make 
summer  work  of  it,  Kitty." 

"  And  if  they  never  should  be  !  "  she 
cried,  with  the  passion  still  in  her  voice. 
"  The  gold  and  silver  might  stay  in  the 
ground  for  all  of  me !  I  don't  believe 
'twas  ever  meant  that  men  should  spend 
their  lives,  burrowing  like  moles  in  the 
dark,  for  the  sake  of  digging  them  out." 

Mr.  St.  Cloud  turned  away,  his  lips 
shaping  an  inaudible  whistle.  There  was 


NEWS,   BUT  NOT  LEX.  151 

no  arguing  with  a  person  who  took  this 
view  of  things,  and  he  wondered,  as  he 
left  the  cottage,  to  what  depths  of  melan- 
choly his  wife  and  cousin  would  plunge 
each  other  when  left  to  themselves. 

But  the  older  lady  was  ready  now  to 
act  the  part  of  comforter.  She  had  too 
tender  a  heart  not  to  feel  for  one  who 
was  suffering  from  the  shock  even  more 
than  herself.  Since  she  entered  the 
house  Alice  had  not  spoken,  but  sat  still 
in  her  hat  and  cloak,  her  hands  clasped 
in  her  lap,  and  her  face  wearing  a  strained 
unnatural  look  that  was  dreadful  to  see. 

"Don't  take  it  so  hard,  dear,"  said 
Mrs.  St.  Cloud,  sitting  down  beside  her. 
"  It's  an  awful  thing  to  happen,  perfectly 
awful ;  and  I  never  can  get  used  to  it 
that  people  should  be  swept  out  of  life 
in  such  a  fearful  way,  but  we  must  make 
the  best  of  it.  There  have  been  worse 
cases  than  this,  over  and  over.  Thank 


152  THE  M.  M.   C. 

Heaven  there  were  only  two  men  this 
time,  and  probably  neither  of  them  had 
a  family.  Miners  who  live  out  in  that 
way  are  almost  always  single  men,  with 
nobody  nearer  to  them  than  their  poor 
old  mothers,  who,  most  likely,  lost  sight 
of  them  long  ago." 

Her  eyes  rilled  again  at  the  last 
words,  but  Alice's  were  still  dry.  "  Oh," 
she  said,  in  a  strange,  low  voice,  "  it  may 
be  that  there  were  three  instead  of  two ! 
It  may  be  that  Lex  Flemming  was 
there  !  He  went  out  to  see  if  he  could 
get  one  of  those  men  to  help  in  the 
M.  M.  C,  and  he  hasn't  come  back." 

Mrs.  St.  Cloud  lifted  her  hands  with 
a  cry.  For  a  moment  dismay  held  her 
speechless,  then,  with  characteristic  feel- 
ing, she  burst  out:  "Oh,  why  didn't  he 
stay  here  with  us,  as  I  wanted  him  to  ? 
I  always  knew  that  trouble  would  come 
of  his  living  out  there  alone,  with  no- 


NEWS,   BUT  NOT  LEX.  153 

body  to  look  after  him  or  know  what 
he  was  doing." 

The  last  words  were  like  an  arrow  sent 
straight  to  the  girl's  heart.  For  a  moment 
she  drooped  and  shivered,  then,  feeling  as 
if  her  very  silence  were  falsehood,  cried : 
"  I  knew  he  was  going.  He  told  me  all 
about  it  the  night  he  was  here,  and  I  —  I 
thought  it  was  best.  I  wanted  him  to  go." 

The  tears  came  now  in  a  flood,  and 
throwing  herself  into  Mrs.  St.  Cloud's 
arms  she  sobbed  as  if  her  heart  would 
break. 

There  was  a  moment  in  which  it  was 
hard  for  Mrs.  St.  Cloud  —  hard  as  any- 
thing she  had  ever  done  —  to  keep  silence. 
Then  all  the  reproaches  she  might  have 
uttered  were  swept  away  in  one  great 
wave  of  pity.  With  the  simple  impulse 
of  motherly  kindness  she  drew  the  girl 
closer  in  her  arms  and  whispered:  "There, 
there,  cry  all  you  want  to,  dear.  But  we 


154  THE  M-  M-  c- 

mustn't  give  up.  I  don't  believe,  I  won't 
believe,  that  the  worst  has  happened." 

And  indeed,  after  the  first  shock,  her 
thoughts  found  an  opening  for  hope  which 
Alice  had  altogether  missed.  How  could 
one  feel  sure  that  Lex  had  gone  out  at  the 
time  he  intended?  In  the  unfavorable 
weather  of  yesterday  what  more  likely 
than  that  he  had  deferred  his  journey  and 
started  this  morning  instead?  It  certainly 
seemed  possible,  and  for  Mrs.  St.  Cloud's 
sake  Alice  would  not  question  the  hope, 
but  over  against  it  in  her  own  thoughts 
stood  the  obstinate  doubt  whether  any 
consideration  for  himself  was  likely  to 
have  weighed  with  Lex  against  the  effort 
he  was  so  eager  to  make. 

The  doubt,  not  the  hope,  was  confirmed 
when  Mr.  St.  Cloud  came  home  to  his 
supper.  The  most  definite  inquiries  had 
been  set  on  foot  concerning  Lex,  and  it 
had  been  positively  learned,  from  a  miner 


NEWS,  BUT  NOT  LEX.  155 

who  had  chanced  to  see  him,  that  the  boy 
had  crossed  the  camp  equipped  for  a  jour- 
ney early  on  the  previous  morning.  No 
one  had  heard  of  his  return ;  he  was 
not  at  the  cabin,  and  the  solution  of  his 
absence  must  certainly  be  looked  for  in 
the  ruin  at  the  Lonely. 

That  was  a  most  distressful  evening  at 
the  cottage.  Mr.  St.  Cloud  went  back  to 
his  place  at  the  mine,  making  some  excuse 
for  doing  so  in  the  absence  of  the  foreman 
of  the  night  shift,  who  had  gone  out  with 
the  rescuing  party.  Perhaps  he  was  glad 
to  escape  from  the  gloom  of  his  own 
household.  His  report  had  thrown  Mrs. 
St.  Cloud  into  the  depths  of  despair,  and 
only  the  effect  on  Tommy,  who  was  wild 
with  excitement,  kept  her  from  giving 
way  to  it  completely.  It  was  Alice,  not 
she,  who  preserved  any  show  of  fortitude 
now.  But  it  was  an  unspeakable  relief  to 
the  girl  when  the  coming  in  of  neighbors 


156  THE  M.   M.   C. 

made  it  possible  for  her  to  slip  away  to 
her  own  room.  They  could  sit  and  talk 
of  the  disaster  with  Mrs.  St.  Cloud,  recall- 
ing the  details  of  all  like  catastrophes 
which  had  occurred  within  their  remem- 
brance, but  the  misery  of  listening  was 
beyond  Alice's  power  to  endure. 

In  the  solitude  of  her  own  room  she 
wept,  she  prayed,  she  paced  the  floor,  re- 
calling every  word  of  that  last  interview 
with  Lex,  and  wondering  at  the  happiness 
which  had  thrilled  her  when  she  made  her 
quick,  glad  offer  of  help.  In  place  of 
it  now  there  was  only  the  torturing  con- 
sciousness that  but  for  that  offered  help  he 
would  not  have  undertaken  his  errand. 
For  the  errand  itself  she  had  no  longer 
any  thought  or  care.  Again  and  again 
there  came  back  to  her  Mrs.  St.  Cloud's 
impetuous  question,  what  was  the  best 
mine  in  the  world  worth  compared  with  a 
boy  like  Lex,  and  each  time  her  heart 


NEWS,  BUT  NOT  LEX.  157 

gave  the  answer  with  throbs  of  unuttera- 
ble anguish,  "  Nothing  —  nothing  —  noth- 
ing." 

She  had  gone  to  bed,  but  not  to  sleep, 
though  it  was  long  past  midnight,  when 
she  heard  Mr.  St.  Cloud's  night-key  in 
the  door  below.  He  had  not  expected 
to  be  back  till  morning.  He  had  said 
he  might  have  news  of  the  Lonely  when 
he  came.  Was  it  possible  that  he  had 
brought  it  already  ? 

She  sprang  up,  threw  on  her  dress, 
and  with  bare  feet  flew  down  the  stairs 
and  into  the  parlor  behind  him.  Mrs. 
St.  Cloud,  who  had  not  gone  to  bed  at 
all,  but  had  lain  dozing  on  the  lounge, 
had  roused  at  his  entrance.  He  looked 
from  one  to  the  other  of  their  pale  ques- 
tioning faces,  and  gave  the  word  for 
which  he  knew  they  were  waiting,  without 
an  instant's  delay. 

"Not    yet,"   he    said.      "They   haven't 


158  THE  M.  M.   C. 

found  him  yet.  But  take  courage.  He 
was  not  with  the  Glynn  boys  when  the 
slide  came  down." 

The  opening  of  a  prison  door  never 
brought  hope  to  a  prisoner  which  was 
sweeter  than  that  word  to  Alice.  She 
could  not  stand  for  trembling,  nor  speak 
for  the  thankfulness  which  filled  her  at 
that  moment.  It  was  Mrs.  St.  Cloud 
who,  in  a  pitying  whisper,  asked,  "  And 
the  others  ?  Was  it  all  over  with  them  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  St.  Cloud,  "and  it 
must  have  been  over  soon.  Poor  fel- 
lows, it's  doubtful  if  they  knew  what 
killed  them."  He  paused  a  moment, 
then  added :  "  Our  men  made  extraordi- 
nary time  getting  to  the  Lonely,  but  a 
party  from  the  Silver  Circle  was  there 
before  them,  and  there  was  nothing  left 
for  them  to  do.  Hank  Johnson  came 
in  ahead  of  the  others  to  bring  the 
news.  The  rest  are  coming  down  with 
the  bodies." 


NEWS,  BUT  NOT  LEX.  159 

There  was  a  little  silence.  Mrs.  St. 
Cloud  broke  it  by  asking  with  a  sudden 
shrillness:  "But  where  is  Lex  Flemming, 
then  ?  Where  can  he  be  if  he  wasn't 
at  the  Lonely?" 

"  I  wish  I  knew,"  said  her  husband. 
"  We're  completely  in  the  dark  about 
him.  But  I  suspect  that  he  reached  the 
Lonely  after  the  slide  came  down,  and 
then  went  farther  in  the  hope  of  bring- 
ing help  to  the  boys." 

"  But  you  said  help  had  come ! "  cried 
his  wife.  "  Didn't  those  men  from  the 
Silver  Circle  know  anything  about  him?" 

Mr.  St.  Cloud  shook  his  head.  "  No," 
he  said,  "  they  have  not  heard  of  him. 
Word  had  reached  them  in  another 
way." 

"  Then  he  is  lost !  He  is  certainly 
lost!"  cried  Mrs.  St.  Cloud.  "Perhaps 
he  has  been  buried  in  some  other  slide ; 
perhaps — " 


160  THE  M.  M.    C. 

But  her  husband  interrupted  almost 
sternly.  "  Don't  torture  your  imagina- 
tion any  more  to-night.  Take  a  little 
comfort,  if  you  can,  from  the  certainty 
that  he  escaped  this  particular  slide." 
He  turned  towards  Alice  and  added  in 
a  softer  tone :  "  It's  an  old  saying,  little 
girl,  and  rather  a  dubious  one,  that  no 
news  is  good  news.  There's  at  least 
this  grain  of  wisdom  in  it,  that  in  the 
absence  of  any  tidings,  we  ought  not 
easily  to  accept  the  worst.  Go  to  bed 
now  and  try  to  sleep." 

He  turned  her  towards  the  door  as  he 
spoke,  and  with  a  whispered  good  night, 
she  went  quietly  out.  For  a  moment,  in 
the  relief  which  had  come  with  freedom 
from  that  worst  fear,  her  anxieties  had 
seemed  almost  to  take  to  themselves 
wings,  but  they  came  back  to  her  now,  a 
dark  clamoring  brood,  which  she  could  not 
still  nor  drive  away. 


NEWS,  BUT  NOT  LEX.  l6l 

But  Alice  was  too  young  to  spend  an 
entire  night  in  tears  and  watching.  An 
hour  later  she  had  obeyed  her  cousin  and 
fallen  asleep.  But  in  her  dreams  her 
thoughts  still  followed  the  boy.  She  was 
wandering  up  and  down  the  mountains, 
searching  for  him  through  the  waste  of 
rock  and  snow,  calling  his  name  across 
dreadful  chasms  and  under  awful  cliffs, 
but  getting  no  answer,  rinding  no  sign. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE  MISSING  BOY. 

A  ND  all  this  time  where  was  Lex? 
**  To  answer  that  question  fully  we 
must  go  back  to  the  morning  when  he  left 
the  old  prospector's  cabin  and  set  out  on 
the  journey  to  the  Lonely.  It  did  not 
lessen  his  ardor  for  the  undertaking  that 
the  sky  was  unfriendly  that  morning. 
One  older  and  more  prudent  than  he 
might  have  questioned  whether  it  would 
not  be  well  to  defer  the  errand  till  another 
day,  but  the  suggestion  did  not  occur  to 
the  boy.  He  made  a  hearty  breakfast  and 
equipped  himself  for  his  journey.  With 
a  piece  of  charcoal  he  blackened  his  under 
eyelids  as  a  precaution  against  snow-blind- 
ness should  the  day  grow  bright,  after  all ; 
162 


THE  MISSING  BOY.  163 

put  on  his  buckskin  leggins ;  thrust  his 
feet  under  the  straps  of  his  snow-shoes  — 
narrow,  well-seasoned  boards  of  nearly 
twice  his  own  length  —  took  his  pole  in 
his  hand  and  was  off.  In  better  spirits 
never  traveller  started. 

He  passed  through  the  camp  before  its 
inmates  were  fairly  astir,  only  pausing 
once  for  a  long,  grateful  look  at  the  cot- 
tage where  the  little  teacher  lay  asleep, 
and  then  began  his  toilsome  ascent 
towards  the  Lonely. 

The  claim  lay  high  up  on  the  side  of 
the  Blue  Bonnet,  one  of  the  many  peaks 
which  stood  crowded  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Silvercrest.  It  had  taken  its  name  in 
the  early  days  from  some  fancied  resem- 
blance it  bore  to  the  old-fashioned  poke 
bonnets  once  in  vogue  among  matrons 
in  the  East.  It  was  gray,  not  blue,  this 
morning,  and  its  outlines  were  hidden  by 
the  clouds  which  shifted  uneasily  around 


1 64  THE  M.   M.   C. 

them.  Into  the  midst  of  them  Lex  soon 
made  his  way.  He  had  his  pocket  com- 
pass with  him,  but  he  did  not  need  it  now. 
He  knew  his  course  and  followed  it, 
higher  and  still  higher  across  the  rugged 
slopes,  his  courage  never  failing  nor  the 
strength  of  his  stout,  young  limbs. 

Something  more  than  half  the  journey 
had  been  made  when  a  furious  gale,  with 
a  sudden  deluge  of  snow,  burst  upon  him. 
With  the  instinct  of  a  mountaineer  he  felt 
that,  fierce  as  it  was,  the  storm  would  be 
short,  and  crept  under  the  edge  of  a  great 
rock  for  shelter  till  it  was  over.  Here  he 
ate  the  lunch  of  bread  and  bacon  with 
which  he  had  provided  himself,  and 
waited,  peering  often  through  the  thick 
white  curtain  of  the  falling  snow,  to  see 
if  the  sky  gave  any  sign  of  clearing. 

Once  he  thought  he  heard  the  sound  of 
rushing  snow  on  the  slope  above  him. 
Then  his  heart  beat  fast,  but  he  steadied 


THE  MISSING  BOY.  165 

it  with  the  thought  that  if  a  "  snow  cap  " 
should  come  down  and  blockade  him  in  his 
hiding-place  he  could  dig  himself  out  with 
his  snow-shoes.  It  was  too  near  the  edge 
of  the  cliff  for  any  great  mass  of  snow  to 
find  a  resting-place. 

At  length  the  storm  spent  itself,  and  the 
boy  crept  from  his  den,  glad  to  stretch  his 
cramped  limbs,  and  eager  to  pursue  his 
interrupted  journey.  But  now  a  harder 
task  than  ever  lay  before  him.  It  was 
with  difficulty  that  he  could  push  his  way 
through  the  soft  new  snow  which  lay 
above  the  old  crust,  and  the  time  in  which 
he  had  hoped  to  make  his  trip  had  length- 
ened by  weary  hours,  when  at  last,  footsore 
and  almost  spent,  he  drew  near  its  end. 

As  he  rounded  the  last  bend  of  the 
mountain,  he  looked  eagerly  ahead  for 
a  sight  of  the  longed-for  cabin.  The  next 
moment  he  stood  in  his  tracks  gazing 
around  him  with  the  bewildered  air  of  one 


1 66  THE  M.  M.    C. 

who  fears  that  he  has  lost  his  way.  But 
only  for  an  instant.  The  bare,  scarred 
earth,  the  scattered  rocks,  the  broken  and 
uprooted  trees,  the  missing  cabin,  all  told 
him  in  another  moment,  that  the  "  Demon 
of  the  Mountains  "  had  swept  across  the 
place.  And  the  men  he  had  come  to 
seek!  Had  they  lost  their  lives  in  that 
wild,  swift  rush  ? 

For  a  moment  the  boy's  heart  stood 
still,  then  it  leaped  with  a  sudden  hope. 
His  quick  eyes  noted  that  the  disaster  was 
new.  No  snow  had  fallen  yet  on  the 
freshness  of  the  desolation.  Some  time 
since  the  storm  which  held  him  a  prisoner 
it  must  have  occurred,  and  though  the  un- 
fortunate miners  had  been  caught  in  the 
ruin  of  their  dwelling,  it  might  not  be  too 
late  to  save  them. 

There  was  not  a  moment  to  be  lost. 
With  the  thought  came  the  instant  con- 
sciousness that  it  rested  with  him  to  bring 


THE  MISSING  BOY.  1 67 

help  to  the  spot,  and  his  knowledge  of  the 
country  brought  quick  suggestion.  A 
mile  farther  on  was  a  group  of  mines 
known  as  the  Silver  Circle.  Here  a  con- 
siderable number  of  men  were  employed 
in  the  winter's  work,  and  a  party  might  be 
secured  for  immediate  action.  He  made 
no  pause  in  starting,  only  to  mark  with 
his  eyes  a  spot  among  the  drifts  far  down 
the  mountain,  where  a  projecting  piece  of 
timber  seemed  to  indicate  a  portion  of  the 
cabin  ;  then,  worn  as  he  was,  but  not  con- 
scious of  it  now,  he  set  eagerly  forward  on 
his  new  errand. 

But  it  was  not  given  to  Lex  to  accom- 
plish that  errand.  In  the  midst  of  his 
journey  one  incautious  step  sent  him  out 
of  his  course  and  cut  off  at  once  all 
chance  of  doing  anything  for  the  unfortu- 
nate owners  of  the  Lonely.  He  could 
hardly  himself  tell  how  it  happened.  A 
minute  before  he  had  noticed  a  cabin  set 


1 68  THE  M.  M.    C. 

under  a  ledge  of  rock  at  some  distance 
below  him,  and  had  paused,  half  inclined 
to  make  his  way  to  it,  in  the  hope  of  find- 
ing occupants  who  might  at  once  help 
him  in  the  work  of  rescue.  But  the  ques- 
tion whether  indeed  it  had  occupants 
made  him  hesitate.  Nothing  is  more 
common  in  some  parts  of  the  Rockies 
than  the  deserted  cabin,  the  relic  often  of 
some  hope  cherished  for  a  while  and  then 
abandoned  by  the  seeker  after  gold  and 
silver.  This  cabin  had  not  fallen  to  de- 
cay, but  it  gave  no  sign  of  life.  There 
was  no  smoke  curling  above  its  roof.  It 
gave  no  answer  to  the  shouts  which  Lex 
sent  towards  it  with  all  the  strength  of  his 
lungs.  And,  reflecting  that  if,  on  reach- 
ing it,  he  should  find  no  one,  he  must 
retrace  his  steps  with  much  delay  and  dif- 
ficulty, the  boy  rejected  his  first  thought 
and  started  impetuously  on. 

Then  was  it  that  he  made   that  fatal 


THE  MISSING  BOY.  169 

misstep  on  an  icy  place  whose  danger  the 
light  new  snow  concealed,  and  before  he 
could  stop  or  in  the  least  control  his 
course,  he  went  plunging  down  the  slope, 
clutching  wildly  at  objects  on  either  side, 
and  half  buried  in  the  mass  of  snow  that 
slid  with  him. 

A  minute,  and  he  had  struck  the  ledge 
which  rose  above  the  solitary  cabin.  His 
snow-shoes,  which  had  flown  from  his 
feet,  had  darted  on  and  reached  the  spot 
before  him.  And  now  the  boy  lay  still, 
closing  his  eyes  to  the  dizzy  vision  of 
mountains,  rocks,  and  trees  rushing  madly 
past  him.  When  he  opened  them  again, 
the  world  stood  still,  and  conscious  though 
he  was  of  racking  pain,  he  made  the 
mental  comment,  as  he  raised  himself 
on  his  elbow  and  looked  around,  that  he 
might  have  "gone  farther  and  fared  worse." 

That  he  had  fared  badly  enough,  how- 
ever, was  quite  clear  to  him  when  he 


I/O  THE  M.   M.    C. 

attempted  to  rise.  The  pain  which 
darted  through  one  ankle  showed  only 
too  plainly  that  he  had  suffered  a  severe 
sprain.  That  he  was  really  disabled  he 
would  not  at  first  admit,  but  the  failure  of 
his  desperate  attempts  to  walk  at  last  con- 
vinced him,  and  the  tears  which  sprang  to 
his  eyes  were  not  forced  by  pain,  but  by 
the  certainty  that  in  this  mishap  he  had 
lost  the  power  to  pursue  his  journey. 

There  was  nothing  for  him  now  but 
to  make  his  way  as  best  he  could  to  the 
cabin  and  try  his  chances  there.  But  first 
he  must  secure  his  snow-shoes.  Luckily 
the  tough  fibre  of  the  wood  had  borne 
the  strain,  and  neither  of  them  was  broken. 
He  regained  them  both;  then,  clamber- 
ing on  hands  and  knees,  dragged  himself 
painfully  to  the  rough  dwelling,  and 
pushed  open  the  unbolted  door. 

At  first  sight  of  the  interior  his  hope 
of  finding  help  rekindled.  There  were 


THE  MISSING  BOY.  I/I 

signs  of  human  occupancy,  though  no  one 
was  in  sight.  The  house  itself  was  merely 
the  entrance  to  a  hole  in  the  mountain 
back  of  it,  which,  to  the  boy's  experienced 
eye,  showed  as  an  incipient  mine.  He 
sent  a  cry  through  ringing  depths,  and 
waited  breathlessly.  But  no  answer  came 
back,  and  he  realized,  with  a  thrill  of  de- 
spair, that  the  post  was  vacant,  and  that 
the  disaster  at  the  Lonely  must  remain 
for  the  present  his  own  secret,  powerless 
as  he  was  to  help. 

And  now,  with  the  thought  of  his  own 
necessities  pressing  upon  him,  he  made 
closer  examination  of  the  cabin.  There 
were  blankets  lying  on  a  bunk  in  the 
corner;  there  was  a  heap  of  dry  pine 
boughs  beside  the  circle  of  stones  which 
served  as  a  fireplace  ;  and  —  a  sight  more 
welcome  still  to  the  famished  boy  —  just 
inside  the  mine  was  a  small  store  of  pro- 
visions. 


THE  M.   M.    C. 

The  hope  which  had  seemed  dead  for 
a  moment  revived  again  in  his  heart. 
Surely  the  owner  of  these  things  had 
not  abandoned  them  !  Some  errand  must 
have  called  him  away,  and  even  now  he 
might  be  close  at  hand.  The  thought 
gave  the  boy  new  energy.  He  kindled 
a  fire,  melted  snow,  and  prepared  him- 
self food,  sure  of  the  approval  of  the 
master  of  the  house  if  he  should  return, 
and  with  ears  alert  for  the  first  sound 
of  his  coming.  But  he  did  not  come. 
The  expectation  grew  fainter  as  the  night 
drew  on,  and  when  at  length,  spent  with 
the  labor  and  pain  of  the  day,  Lex  lay 
down  to  sleep,  he  knew  that  his  last  poor 
chance  of  sending  help  to  the  Lonely 
was  gone.  The  only  hope  left  to  him 
now  was  that  he  might  get  back  to 
Silvercrest  in  the  morning. 

But  this  hope  did  not  outlast  the  rest- 
less night.  The  morning  found  his  foot 


THE  MISSING  BOY.  173 

more  swollen  than  before,  and  the  least 
attempt  to  bear  weight  upon  it  gave 
him  intolerable  pain.  Feverish  and  heart- 
sick, the  boy  entered  on  the  longest, 
dreariest  day  that  he  had  ever  known. 
To  bathe  his  aching  foot,  to  gaze  from 
the  cabin  door  across  the  dreary  solitudes 
in  the  hope  of  descrying  some  human 
figure,  to  think  with  shuddering  horror 
on  the  probable  fate  of  his  friends  at 
the  Lonely,  and  with  gloomy  forebodings 
on  the  future  of  the  M.  M.  C,  —  these 
were  its  occupations.  The  friendly  cabin 
seemed  to  him  now  the  gloomiest  of 
dungeons,  and  in  the  bitterness  of  his 
heart  he  felt  that  no  imprisonment  had 
ever  been  so  hard  to  bear  as  his. 

The  day  wore  to  an  end  at  last,  and 
in  sheer  exhaustion,  though  seemingly 
with  no  power  to  sleep,  Lex  stretched 
himself  once  more  on  his  poor  bed.  It 
was  far  in  the  night  when  he  was  startled 


THE  M.   M.    C. 

by  the  pushing  open  of  the  door.  In 
the  moonlight  he  saw  a  tall  man  crossing 
the  threshold  and  then  draw  suddenly 
back  with  an  exclamation  of  amazement. 

The  rough  figure  in  a  suit  of  smoked 
buckskin,  with  boots  reaching  nearly  to 
the  thighs,  and  a  broad  hat  slouching 
about  the  swarthy,  bearded  face,  was  just 
such  a  figure  as  Lex  had  been  looking 
for,  but  he  found  himself  at  the  moment 
surprised  and  unable  to  speak. 

It  was  the  newcomer  who  recovered 
himself  first.  "  Hullo,  youngster !  "  he 
exclaimed,  advancing  with  long  strides 
towards  the  boy.  "  How  on  earth  did 
you  come  here  ? " 

"  I  took  a  slide  I  wasn't  counting  on 
up  above,"  said  Lex,  meeting  his  look 
with  frank  confidence,  "  and  it  knocked 
me  up  so  I  couldn't  get  on.  Your  shack 
was  the  nearest  cover,  and  I  had  to  crawl 
in  and  make  free  with  your  things." 


HE  SAW  A  TALL  MAN  CROSSING  THE  THRESHOLD.' 


THE  MISSING  BOY.  175 

"  That's  right !  That's  right !  "  said 
the  stranger,  heartily.  "  Help  yourself  to 
anything  you  find  laying  in  your  way. 
That's  my  rule.  But  what  was  you  shoe- 
ing it  across  the  Blue  Bonnet  for?  You 
don't  belong  hereabouts." 

"  No,"  said  Lex.  "  I  came  up  from 
Silvercrest,  and  my  business  was  at  the 
Lonely." 

He  broke  off  suddenly  from  the  ac- 
count of  himself,  and  cried  sharply  : 
"  There's  been  a  slide  there !  Things 
are  awfully  torn  up,  and  there  ain't  a 
sign  of  the  Glynn  boys'  cabin  left." 

"  I  know  all  about  that,"  said  the  man, 
with  a  nod.  "  I  just  came  from  there 
myself.  You  see,"  he  continued,  seating 
himself  on  the  side  of  the  bunk,  "  I  ran 
out  of  coffee  yesterday,  and  went  over 
to  the  Silver  Circle  to  see  if  I  could  get 
some.  I  meant  to  be  back  before  this, 
but  while  I  was  there  the  boys  got  word 


1/6  THE  M.  M.    C. 

of  that  slide  and  I  went  over  with  'em 
to  help." 

"  Oh  ! "  gasped  Lex.  Then  the  word 
which  he  had  been  so  anxious  to  take 
had  been  carried  by  some  other.  He 
did  not  stop  to  inquire  how  this  had 
come  about ;  he  only  asked  the  result 
of  the  search,  and  the  certainty  that  his 
poor  friends  could  not  have  been  saved 
by  any  effort  of  his  was,  with  all  the 
horror  of  the  story,  a  kind  of  relief. 

"  But  what  took  you  to  the  Lonely  ? " 
queried  the  man,  with  returning  curiosity 
as  to  his  guest.  Then,  as  if  a  sudden 
thought  had  struck  him,  he  exclaimed: 
"  I  reckon  you  must  be  the  chap  that 
the  Silvercrest  folks  were  talking  about. 
A  party  of  'em  came  up  to  look  for  the 
Glynn  boys  just  as  we  got  through. 
They  said  there  was  a  fellow  by  the 
name  of  Flemming  missing." 

"  Did    they  ? "   cried    Lex.      He   knew 


THE  MISSING  BOY. 

that  Alice  Hildreth  must  have  told  them, 
and  though  the  fact  showed  her  anxiety, 
he  could  not  help  feeling  a  touch  of 
pleasure.  "  Well,  I  guess  I'm  the  one 
they  meant,"  he  said. 

He  had  no  objection  to  telling  the 
stranger  his  story  now.  Indeed,  it  was 
a  relief  to  talk  to  some  one  after  the  soli- 
tude of  this  dreadful  day.  "  What  I 
started  out  for,"  he  said  frankly,  "was 
to  see  if  I  could  get  Jerry  Glynn  to  do 
some  work  for  me — I  mean  for  Uncle 
Eben  Cornforth.  He's  the  man  I've 
lived  with  ever  since  I  was  a  little  chap. 
Maybe  you  know  him." 

"What,  Old  Hopeful?"  exclaimed  the 
other.  "  Well,  I  reckon.  I  knew  him 
twenty  years  ago  at  Leadville,  but  I 
hain't  seen  him  this  good  while." 

His  face  lighted  as  he  spoke,  and  Lex, 
spurred  by  a  sudden  hope,  went  on 
eagerly :  "  You  see  he's  got  a  good  claim 


178  THE  M.   M.    C. 

a  little  ways  out  of  Silvercrest  —  a  first- 
rate  claim.  It's  the  M.  M.  C.,  and  we 
meant  to  work  the  assessment  out  this 
month.  But  his  little  girl  was  taken 
sick,  and  he  had  to  go  off  to  Redridge 
to  see  her  when  he'd  only  worked  a  few 
days.  He  hasn't  got  back  yet,  and  I'm 
awfully  afraid  he'll  lose  the  property. 
That's  why  I  wanted  to  get  Jerry.  I 
thought  I  could  strike  a  bargain  with 
him  to  help  me  finish  up  the  work." 

"  Well,  you've  struck  a  streak  of  bad 
luck  all  round,"  said  the  man.  "  But  I 
reckon  the  Glynns  ain't  the  only  men 
to  be  had.  I'd  turn  in  myself  and  help 
you  if  it  warn't  for  the  Lady  Bird  here." 
He  made  a  gesture  towards  the  hole 
at  the  back  of  the  cabin,  and  added : 
"  My  pardner  failed  me  a  few  days  back, 
and  that  left  me  in  the  lurch.  By  the 
time  I  get  my  own  work  done  there  won't 
be  much  left  of  the  year." 


THE  MISSING  BOY.  179 

The  boy's  face  fell,  and  the  speaker 
seeing  it  said  kindly,  "  But  I  might  do 
something  for  you  at  Silvercrest.  I 
thought  of  going  down  to  the  funeral 
to-morrow.  Owen  Glynn  used  to  be  a 
pardner  of  mine,  and  I  want  to  see  him 
through." 

"  I  mean  to  go  in,  too,"  said  Lex,  try- 
ing to  speak  confidently.  "  I  guess  my 
foot'll  be  well  enough  by  that  time." 

"  Let's  see  your  foot,"  said  the  miner. 
He  dropped  on  the  floor  beside  the 
boy,  and  unwound  the  wet  rags  from 
the  disabled  member.  Lex  did  not 
wince  though  the  touch  was  none  of 
the  gentlest.  He  was  watching  the 
man's  face  intently  for  the  first  sign 
of  his  judgment  on  the  case.  It  came, 
after  a  minute,  in  a  low  whistle  and  an 
emphatic  shake  of  the  head. 

"  Don't  you  think  I  can  go  in  to- 
morrow ? "  pleaded  Lex. 


180  THE  M.   M.   C. 

The  miner  was  not  in  the  habit  of 
mincing  unpleasant  truths.  "  Don't  you 
fool  yourself,"  he  said.  "  You'll  do  mighty 
well  if  you  get  out  of  here  inside  a 
fortnight.  I've  known  fellows  to  be  laid 
up  better'n  a  month  with  this  sort  of 
thing." 

The  room  swam  suddenly  before  the 
boy's  eyes.  He  turned  his  face  from' 
his  companion,  drew  a  fold  of  the  rough 
blanket  over  it,  and  writhed  in  silence. 
The  man  was  silent,  too,  but  with  a 
hand  as  gentle  now  as  a  woman's  he 
bandaged  up  the  foot,  saying  as  he  fin- 
ished, "  If  I  go  into  camp  to-morrow, 
I'll  get  something  or  other  in  the  way 
of  stuff  to  rub  it  up  with." 

Lex  looked  piteously  out  from  his 
cover.  He  tried  to  say  "  Thank  you," 
but  the  words  stuck  in  his  throat.  It 
seemed  to  him  at  that  moment  that  he 
had  nothing  in  the  world  to  be  thankful 


THE  MISSING  BOY.  l8l 

for.  His  heart  rebelled  against  his  fate 
and  vehemently  refused  to  accept  it. 
What !  Sit  down  to  nurse  an  aching 
foot  when  the  time  was  on  for  action, 
and  limp  back  to  his  post,  beaten  and 
helpless,  when  the  game  was  lost !  It 
seemed  to  Lex  just  then  that  he  would 
rather  have  shared  the  fate  at  the 
Lonely. 

Presently  the  owner  of  the  Lady  Bird 
pulled  off  his  boots  and  lay  down  beside 
him.  There  had  been  no  further  words 
between  them,  but  the  man  caught  the 
sound  of  a  smothered  sob,  and  in  tones  of 
drowsy  kindness  said,  "  Hurts,  don't  it ! " 

"Oh,  it  ain't  that!  it  ain't  that!" 
moaned  the  boy. 

Silence  fell  between  them  again.  The 
man  was  dropping  off  to  sleep,  but  the 
boy  lay  wide  awake,  thinking.  Should 
he  act  upon  the  suggestion  his  new 
friend  had  made,  and  ask  him  to  em- 


1 82  THE  M.    M.   C. 

ploy  some  one  for  the  work  in  the 
M.  M.  C.  ?  It  was  a  possibility  at  which 
he  grasped  for  a  moment,  but  the  objec- 
tions which  urged  themselves  against  it 
were  pressing  and  final.  The  offer  of 
the  money  was  a  secret  between  himself 
and  Alice  Hildreth,  and  boy  as  he  was, 
Lex  felt  that  it  would  be  unmanly  to 
give  it  to  the  gossip  of  the  mining 
camp  or  force  her  to  transactions  with 
a  stranger.  Besides,  if  he  were  unable 
to  do  any  of  the  work  himself,  the  sum 
required  in  payment  would  be  greater 
than  she  had  promised.  No,  unless  he 
could  see  her  himself,  unless  he  could 
arrange  the  business  and  share  the 
work,  he  would  not  take  advantage  of 
her  offered  kindness. 

A  sob  deeper  than  before  escaped 
him,  and  the  miner,  starting  at  the 
sound,  raised  himself  on  his  elbow. 

"  Look   here,   youngster,"   he  said,    "  if 


THE  MISSING  BOY.  183 

you're  a-fretting  about  that  claim,  you  just 
hold  up.  I  reckon  Old  Hopeful  ain't 
a-going  to  cry  about  it,  if  he  does  lose 
it.  It  ain't  the  first  one  he's  had,  and  it 
won't  be  his  last.  There's  as  good  fish 
in  the  sea  as  ever  was  caught,  and  as 
good  mines  in  these  mountains  as  ever 
was  opened.  Take  your  luck  as  it  comes, 
and  don't  cry  for  a  spent  shot." 

"  But  it  ain't  like  losing  a  common 
claim,"  burst  out  Lex,  unable  any  longer 
to  restrain  himself.  "  They've  just  struck 
it  rich  in  a  mine  close  by,  and  the  man 
that  owns  that  has  laid  his  plans  to  get 
the  M.  M.  C.  He  came  in  one  night 
with  another  man  to  see  how  things 
stood,  and  I  heard  all  the  talk,  when 
they  didn't  know  I  was  there.  It's  Dud- 
leigh  Drayton  that's  aiming  to  get  it, 
and  he  never  misses." 

The  man  was  sitting  upright  now, 
thoroughly  awake.  He  drew  his  hand 


1 84  THE  M.    M.   C. 

across  his  beard  for  a  moment  in  silence, 
then  said  slowly :  "  Well,  young  feller, 
you  keep  a  stiff  upper  lip.  There's  more 
ways  than  one  to  hold  a  claim.  If  you 
can't  do  it  with  a  pick,  try  it  with  a 
Winchester,  I  say." 

The  eyes  of  the  two  met  at  the 
words,  a  fierce  meaning  in  the  older 
pair,  a  gleam  of  momentary  consent  in 
the  boy's.  Then  the  speaker  added : 
"  You  rest  easy  here  till  I  get  done  with 
the  Lady  Bird.  Then  we'll  go  in  to- 
gether. Blame  me  if  I  won't  stand  by 
you  in  this  business  and  see  you 
through  !  " 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  later  the  man 
was  sound  asleep,  but  a  conflict  sharper 
than  ever  was  raging  in  the  mind  of  the 
boy.  He  knew  that  in  an  appeal  to 
firearms  the  issue  was  always  uncertain, 
and  moreover  he  had  grave  doubts 
whether  Eben  Cornforth  would  approve 


THE  MISSING  BOY.  185 

such  a  course.  With  all  his  rough  ex- 
perience the  old  prospector  had  remained 
a  man  of  peace.  It  was  one  of  his  boasts 
that  he  had  never  defended  a  property 
with  a  shot-gun.  Would  he  be  willing 
that  another  should  do  it  for  him? 

And  there  was  another  doubt  which 
forced  itself  on  the  poor  boy's  troubled 
thought.  Could  he  safely  rely  on  the 
good  faith  of  this  stranger  comrade,  to 
hold  for  another  what  he  might  so 
easily  secure  for  himself  ?  The  thought 
shamed  him  as  it  came,  but,  try  as  he 
would,  he  could  not  fling  it  off. 

Miserable  and  exhausted,  he  fell  asleep 
at  last.  Then,  while  the  little  teacher 
dreamed  of  him,  he,  too,  had  a  dream  of 
her.  He  thought  she  stood  beside  him, 
as  she  stood  on  that  last  evening,  her 
face  aglow  with  generous  feeling  and 
clear,  untroubled  hope  in  her  shining 
eyes.  He  woke  with  a  start  of  pain, 


1 86  THE  M.   M.   C. 

and,  covering  his  face  with  his  hands, 
said  bitterly  to  himself:  "She  doesn't 
know  how  things  have  gone  against  us ! 
She  doesn't  know." 


CHAPTER    IX. 

ONE    MORE    EFFORT. 

A  ND  so,  with  doubts  and  dreams  and 
bitter  heartache,  that  night  wore 
away  for  Lex  and  Alice.  To  Lex  the 
light  came  first,  for  pain  and  fever  made 
the  waking  from  his  troubled  sleep  only 
too  easy.  One  faint  hope  woke  with  him, 
and  lifting  himself  cautiously,  not  to  dis- 
turb the  man  who  lay  unconscious  be- 
side him,  he  set  his  feet  to  the  floor  and 
tried  for  an  instant  to  stand  erect.  The 
next  moment  he  lay  back  among  the 
blankets,  white  to  the  lips,  his  eyes  closed 
and  a  look  of  suffering  on  his  face  which 
faded  slowly  out  into  one  of  utter  de- 
spair. It  was  the  despair  of  all  the  hope 
and  purpose  which  had  filled  his  life  dur- 
187 


1 88  THE  M.   M.   C. 

ing  these  last  strenuous  weeks.  He  knew 
now  that  there  was  nothing  left  for  him 
to  do  except,  —  and  for  an  instant  the 
dull  ache  at  his  heart  changed  to  a  sharp 
tingling  pain,  —  except  to  send  word  of 
his  defeat  to  the  girl  whose  generous 
friendship  had  made  his  cause  her  own. 

He  had  worded  the  little  message  in 
his  thoughts  many  times  before  he  had 
a  chance  to  put  it  on  paper,  for  his  host 
slept  on  with  a  tranquillity  which  was 
almost  maddening  to  the  restless  boy. 
There  was  a  question,  indeed,  whether 
it  could  be  put  on  paper  at  all,  for  there 
seemed  to  be  none  in  the  cabin  except 
the  old  newspapers  tacked  against  the 
wall.  But  the  ingenuity  of  the  owner, 
when  at  last  he  roused  himself  to  the 
business  of  the  day,  supplied  the  need. 
The  underside  of  the  label  from  a  can 
of  tomatoes,  which  he  opened  with  lav- 
ish hospitality,  for  breakfast,  furnished  a 


ONE  MORE  EFFORT.  189 

smooth  white  space,  and  under  the  queer 
gay  cover,  Lex  wrote  his  sorrowful  note. 

"  It's  for  the  little  teacher,"  he  said, 
entrusting  it  to  his  host  when  the  latter 
set  out  for  Silvercrest,  "  and  I  should  be 
ever  so  much  obliged  if  you'd  give  it  to 
her.  She's  been  a  good  friend  to  me, 
and  I'm  afraid  she  worries  about  my  not 
getting  back." 

"  I'll  do  anything  I  can  for  you,"  said 
the  man,  heartily,  and  he  added,  with 
genuine  sympathy  in  his  face  and  voice: 
"  It's  terrible  hard  lines  for  you  to  have 
to  stay  behind  here.  I  wouldn't  leave  you 
if  it  warn't  for  this  'ere  funeral.  I  reckon 
it's  more  lonesome  when  I'm  gone." 

"Oh,  I  don't  mind  staying  alone,"  said 
Lex.  "  I'm  glad  you're  going,  so  I  can 
send  the  note.  Maybe  Miss  Hildreth 
will  be  at  the  funeral.  They'll  most 
likely  have  it  at  the  school-house,  and 
you  can  give  it  to  her  there." 


THE  M.   M.    C. 

"  But  how  shall  I  know  who  she  is  ? " 
queried  the  miner,  and  he  added  with  a 
twist  of  his  mouth,  as  he  looked  down 
at  his  rough  clothes,  "  I  ain't  much  of 
a  figger  to  -  make  up  to  ladies." 

"Oh,  she  don't  mind  folks'  clothes," 
cried  Lex.  "  And  as  for  knowing  her, 
you  can't  miss  of  that.  There's  nobody 
else  that  looks  like  her? 

He  paused  as  if  to  find  some  suitable 
word  of  description,  then,  with  obvious 
despair  of  doing  so,  added,  "  You  can't 
tell  what  the  difference  is  till  you  see 
her,  but  you'll  know  her  by  the  look  in 
her  eyes  and  the  soft  pretty  color  she's 
got.  And  if  she  isn't  at  the  school-house, 
please  leave  it  for  her  at  St.  Cloud's. 
There's  where  she  lives,  in  the  white 
house  at  the  head  of  the  street." 

It  is  doubtful  if  Lex  Flemming's  am- 
bassador got  any  definite  idea  of  Alice 
Hildreth's  personal  appearance  from  the 


ONE  MORE  EFFORT.  191 

boy's  intimation  of  its  superiority  to  that 
of  all  other  maidens,  but  he  had  no  hesi- 
tation in  deciding  that  she  was  not  in 
the  school-house  when  he  joined  the 
group  assembled  there.  The  few  women 
whispering  in  a  corner  were  evidently 
the  wives  of  miners,  and  without  waiting 
to  make  needless  inquiries  he  decided 
to  occupy  the  time  which  still  remained 
before  the  brief  service  in  despatching 
the  errand  at  the  cottage. 

As  he  drew  near  the  house,  he  saw  a 
girl  leaning  on  the  gate  before  it,  a  white 
shawl  about  her  head,  and  her  face  lifted 
towards  the  mountains.  She  looked  al- 
most as  young  as  the  boy  himself.  Could 
this  be  the  teacher?  It  seemed  impossi- 
ble. But  the  one  word  of  distinct  de- 
scription which  Lex  had  given  flashed 
upon  his  memory  at  that  moment  and 
brought  decision.  There  was  indeed  a 
"  soft  pretty  color "  in  her  face,  just  a 


THE  M.  M.  C. 

touch,  pale  though  it  was  to-day,  of  the 
color  which  tinges  arbutus  blossoms  on 
New  England  hills  in  spring,  and  the 
Western  man  noted  it  with  quick  appre- 
ciation. 

Wrapped  in  her  own  thoughts,  she  did 
not  see  him  till  he  stood  before  her. 
Starting,  and  flushing  under  his  evident 
scrutiny,  she  was  turning  away  when  his 
voice  arrested  her. 

"  Be  you  the  teacher  ? "  he  asked. 

The  girl  turned  back  with  a  smile. 
This  man,  whose  face  she  had  forgotten, 
was  probably  the  father  of  one  of  her 
pupils.  "  I  was  the  teacher  a  little  while 
ago,"  she  answered,  in  a  soft,  pleasant 
voice. 

The  man  drew  a  step  nearer.  "  Do 
you  know  a  boy  by  the  name  of  Lex 
Flemming  ?  "  he  asked. 

The  color  flew  from  the  girl's  cheeks. 
She  clasped  her  hands  on  the  gate  and 


ONE  MORE  EFFORT.  193 

leaned  towards  the  stranger  with  a  breath- 
less eagerness.  "  Oh,  yes  !  "  she  cried. 
"  Do  you  know  where  he  is  ? " 

"  Well,  I  reckon  I  do,"  replied  the  man, 
with  deliberation.  "  I  know  where  he  was 
at  seven  o'clock  this  morning,  and  I'll  go 
bail  fer  it  he  ain't  fur  from  there  now. 
He's  got  a  mighty  slim  chance  to  travel." 

He  thrust  his  hand  into  his  pocket 
as  he  spoke,  and  drew  out  that  brilliant 
bit  of  paper.  "  He  wrote  something  in- 
side o'  that  fer  you,"  he  said,  extending 
it  towards  her. 

The  thought  that  she  might  have  some 
message  to  send  in  reply,  and  the  attrac- 
tion of  her  face,  kept  him  standing  while 
she  read  it.  It  ran,  — 

MlSS    HlLDRETH  : 

Dear  Teacher,  —  I  couldn't  keep  my  promise  to 
you  though  I  tried  my  best.  Things  have  gone 
against  us.  I  got  to  the  Lonely  all  right,  but  I 
found  the  cabin  had  gone  in  a  slide,  and  I  thought 


194  THE  M.  M.   C. 

if  I  could  get  help  quick,  maybe  we  could  save  the 
boys.  So  I  struck  over  towards  the  Silver  Circle, 
but  I  slipped  on  the  way  and  sprained  my  foot. 
Then  I  couldn't  get  on  or  come  back.  I  crawled  into 
a  cabin  that  was  near  by,  and  that's  where  I  am 
now.  There's  no  knowing  how  long  I  shall  have 
to  stay  here.  The  man  says  it  may  be  weeks.  I 
guess  it's  all  up  with  the  M.  M.  C.  There's  no  way 
now  unless  he  happens  to  get  back  in  time.  Good 
bye,  and  thank  you  for  all  your  kindness. 
Your  respectful  pupil, 

ALEXANDER  FLEMMING. 

He  had  written  it  with  dry  eyes,  de- 
termined to  make  no  further  drain  upon 
her  pity  by  any  moan  of  his.  But  the 
girl  read  it  through  tears  that  brimmed 
over,  and  fell  in  great,  hurrying  drops 
upon  the  paper.  Whether  they  were 
tears  of  joy  or  sorrow  she  could  not 
have  told ;  such  a  rush  of  mingled  feel- 
ing came  with  the  reading  of  those  short, 
unsentimental  lines.  He  was  safe  then, 
safe !  The  visions  of  sudden  death,  which 


ONE  MORE  EFFORT.  195 

had  tortured  her  through  so  many  dread- 
ful hours,  faded  from  her  thoughts  not  to 
take  shape  again.  Thank  God,  he  was 
safe !  Yes,  but  his  hope  was  gone.  The 
brave,  strong  purpose,  dear  to  him  almost 
as  his  life,  was  broken.  She  knew,  she, 
with  her  true,  loyal  heart,  what  it  had 
meant  to  him  when  he  wrote,  "  It's  all 
up  with  the  M.  M.  C."  She  knew  in 
what  bitterness  of  soul  he  must  have  ac- 
cepted the  issue.  Oh,  if  she  could  save 
him  from  this ! 

And  with  the  longing  there  came  to 
her  at  that  moment  a  thought  like  an 
inspiration,  a  thought  which  had  never 
entered  her  mind  before,  but  which  leaped 
instantly  into  clear  and  definite  resolve. 
The  tears  in  her  eyes  seemed  all  at  once 
to  flash  themselves  dry.  She  straightened 
herself,  and  the  shawl  fell  from  her  head. 
Then,  in  a  low,  thrilling  voice,  she  said, — 

"  It  is  not  all   up  with  the  M.  M.   C. ! 


196  THE  M.  M.    C. 

Tell  Lex  I  said  so.  There  is  one  way 
left,  and  I  will  take  it." 

The  boldness  of  her  thought  seemed 
to  overwhelm  her  for  a  moment.  She 
paused ;  then,  in  the  same  voice,  but  more 
gently,  said,  "  I'm  so  glad  he's  safe  !  Tell 
him  I've  thought  about  him  all  the  time. 
And  tell  him  to  keep  up  courage,  and 
trust  in  God.  He  can  make  things  come 
out  right." 

She  said  the  last  words  solemnly, 
looking  straight  into  her  listener's  eyes; 
then,  as  if  unable  to  hear  or  speak  an- 
other word,  turned  suddenly  away. 

The  man  stood  as  if  rooted  to  the 
spot  till  the  door  of  the  cottage  closed 
behind  her ;  then,  with  his  face  work- 
ing curiously,  started  down  the  street. 
"  Well,  of  all  the  messages  that  ever 
was  giv'  to  me,  if  that  don't  beat  'em ! " 
he  muttered  to  himself. 

Some    incongruity   between    the    word 


ONE  MORE  EFFORT.  197 

and  himself  as  the  bearer  of  it  appeared 
to  strike  him,  for  he  muttered  his  own 
name  twice  as  if  it  were  an  expletive. 
"  But  I'll  give  it  to  him,  jest  as  she  said 
it,"  he  muttered  presently.  "  It's  mighty 
queer  doctrine  fer  these  parts,  but  she 
looked  as  if  she  knew  what  was  inside 
of  it.  I  reckon  there  must  be  some- 
thing between  'em  —  God  and  that  girl." 

At  that  moment  Alice  was  standing 
alone  in  her  chamber,  her  hands  clasped, 
and  her  face  pale  with  the  purpose 
which  had  so  suddenly  laid  hold  of  her. 
Again  she  read  that  little  note,  and  her 
heart  refused  to  echo  its  despair.  No, 
everything  had  not  been  done  to  save 
the  M.  M.  C.  There  was  one  thing 
more  to  do,  and  she  would  do  it.  She 
would  go  for  help  to  Mr.  Dudleigh 
Drayton  himself! 

She  did  not  give  her  resolution  a 
moment's  time  to  cool.  Two  minutes 


198  THE  M.  M.  C. 

later  she  was  on  her  way  to  Mr.  Dray- 
ton's  office.  As  yet,  no  shadow  of  doubt 
had  fallen  upon  her  purpose.  She  felt 
like  one  divinely  called  to  set  a  wrong 
right,  and  her  heart  leaped  forward  to 
the  mission.  As  she  walked  she  con- 
sidered what  she  should  say,  and  her 
Puritan  training  brought  swift  sugges- 
tion. She  remembered  the  story  of 
David  and  the  prophet  Nathan,  and  it 
pleased  her  to  fancy  herself  standing 
before  this  rich,  ambitious  schemer,  as 
the  man  of  God  had  stood  before  the 
king,  laying  bare  the  covetousness  of 
his  heart,  and  the  wrong  he  purposed  to 
his  humble  neighbor.  She  would  tell 
her  story  well,  and  when  his  soul  was 
stirred  with  indignation,  she  would  cry 
out  like  the  prophet,  "Thou  art  the  man/" 
In  this  exalted  state  of  mind  she 
reached  the  door  of  Mr.  Drayton's  of- 
fice. The  short,  business-like  call,  "  Come 


ONE  MORE  EFFORT.  199 

in,"  with  which  he  answered  her  knock, 
brought  her  once  more  into  the  world 
of  ordinary  action.  She  turned  the 
knob,  with  a  sudden  flutter  at  her  heart, 
and  obeyed  the  call. 

Mr.  Drayton  was  sitting  at  his  desk, 
with  a  cigar  in  his  mouth,  apparently 
quite  engrossed  with  a  column  of  figures 
down  which  his  pencil  was  rapidly  mov- 
ing. He  glanced  up  carelessly  in  an- 
other moment,  and,  starting  at  the  sight 
of  his  unusual  caller,  tossed  his  cigar 
aside  and  came  towards  her  with  ex- 
tended hand. 

"Why,  Miss  Hildreth,"  he  said,  "you 
give  me  an  unexpected  pleasure ;  but 
this  is  a  morning  of  surprises.  Have 
you  heard  the  good  news  ? " 

"  About  Lex  Flemming  ? "  she  said, 
barely  touching  his  proffered  hand. 
"  Yes,  I  have  heard  it.  It  was  that 
which  made  me  come  to  see  you." 


2OO  THE  M.  M.   C. 

"  Well,  I  am  glad  to  exchange  congratu- 
lations," said  Mr.  Drayton,  a  little  puzzled, 
but  quite  at  ease.  "  Lex  is  a  splendid  fel- 
low, and  deserves  better  of  fortune  than  to 
lose  his  life  in  a  snow-slide.  The  whole 
camp  has  been  anxious  about  him,  but 
you,  I  fancy,  most  of  all.  I  believe  he 
was  one  of  your  best  scholars." 

"Yes,"  said  Alice,  and  then  she  was 
silent  again.  It  was  astonishing  how  hard 
it  had  grown  to  disclose  the  real  object  of 
her  coming.  Her  fingers  worked  ner- 
vously with  the  buttons  of  her  cloak  and 
she  knit  her  forehead  in  the  effort  to  find 
some  suitable  beginning  for  her  intended 
speech. 

He  had  set  a  chair  for  her  and  resumed 
his  own  seat,  wondering  a  little  at  her 
evident  embarrassment,  but  he  filled  the 
pause  again  with  ready  politeness. 

"  Yes,  indeed,  the  news  must  be  a  relief 
to  you.  Missing  people  are  not  always 


ONE  MORE  EFFORT.  2OI 

heard  from  so  quickly,  and,  hidden  away 
as  the  boy  is  in  that  out-of-the-way  corner, 
it  is  very  remarkable  that  news  of  him 
should  have  reached  us  so  soon.  The 
Fates  must  have  taken  pity  on  your  sus- 
pense. I  am  sure  the  sight  of  your  face 
yesterday  would  have  moved  the  sternest 
of  them." 

The  girl  grew  more  nervous  than  be- 
fore. It  would  never  do  to  let  the  conver- 
sation drift  like  this.  She  felt  that  she 
must  speak  out,  and  at  that  moment,  by  a 
lucky  suggestion  of  memory,  something  to 
say  did  actually  occur  to  her.  It  was  not 
at  all  a  good  beginning  for  a  speech  like 
that  of  Nathan,  but  somehow  she  had  for- 
gotten all  about  Nathan,  and  she  could 
not  wait  for  anything  better. 

"  Mr.  Drayton,"  she  exclaimed,  leaning 
suddenly  towards  him,  "  do  you  remember 
telling  me  on  that  first  morning  of  the 
blockade,  when  you  called  at  my  cousin's, 


2O2  THE  M.  M.    C. 

that  I  mustn't  worry  about  having  no  work 
here  in  Silvercrest,  for  I  should  be  sure  to 
find  something  to  do  ?  " 

Mr.  Drayton  smiled.  "  I  believe  I  do 
remember  saying  something  of  that  sort. 
And  have  you  found  anything  to  do  ? " 

"  Yes,"  said  Alice,  "  something  very 
important.  But  the  trouble  is  I  can't  do 
it  myself." 

"  Oh,  you  have  found  something  for 
somebody  else  to  do !  "  laughed  Mr.  Dray- 
ton.  "  Well,  that  is  not  usually  a  difficult 
matter.  People  often  have  that  good  fort- 
une." 

He  leaned  easily  back  in  his  chair  now 
and  waited  for  her  to  go  on,  expecting 
some  appeal  for  charity,  to  which,  for  the 
sake  of  the  fair  solicitor,  he  was  prepared 
to  respond  generously.  He  supposed  his 
manner  to  be  quite  inviting,  but  appar- 
ently she  did  not  find  it  so.  Her  color 
rose  at  his  amused  laugh,  and  there  was  a 


HE  WAITED  FOR  HER  TO  GO  ON." 


ONE  MORE  EFFORT.  203 

note  of  injured  feeling  in  her  voice  as  she 
said,  "  But,  indeed,  I  would  do  it  if  I 
could !  It's  because  I'm  so  helpless,  in 
spite  of  all  my  trying,  that  I  come  to  you.'1 

She  forced  herself  to  make  no  pause 
now,  and  went  on  swiftly:  "  Mr.  Drayton, 
the  reason  that  Lex  Flemming  went  out 
to  the  Lonely  was  because  he  wanted  to 
get  some  one  to  help  him  in  the  M.  M.  C. 
He  was  troubled  because  the  assessment 
work  for  this  year  isn't  done,  and  he 
couldn't  bear  the  thought  that  Mr.  Corn- 
forth  might  lose  it,  when  he  has  worked 
so  hard  all  his  life  and  been  disappointed 
so  many  times." 

She  paused,  looking  imploringly  at 
Mr.  Drayton,  but  he  only  said  rather 
coldly,  "  Cornforth  should  have  taken 
measures  in  time  to  protect  his  prop- 
erty." 

"  Yes,"  faltered  Alice,  "  but  you  know 
he  worked  for  you  till  late  in  the  season, 


204  THE  M.  M.   C. 

and  then  he  had  to  leave  everything  to 
go  to  his  little  girl,  when  he  had  only 
just  begun  on  the  M.  M.  C.  She  was 
very  sick;  she  might  be  dying.  He 
couldn't  refuse  such  a  call." 

Mr.   Drayton  frowned  a  little. 

"  Of  course  not,"  he  said.  "  But  Corn- 
forth  is  too  old  a  miner  not  to  under- 
stand the  risk  he  takes  when  he  puts 
off  working  his  claim  till  the  last  mo- 
ment allowed  by  law.  His  working  for 
me  was  a  matter  of  his  own  choice. 
These  prospectors  need  a  lesson  now 
and  then  to  teach  them  the  importance 
of  promptness." 

For  a  moment  Alice's  eyes  grew  dim, 
but  with  a  great  effort  she  forced  back 
the  tears.  After  all,  she  must  plead,  not 
arraign. 

"But  Lex!"  she  cried.  "He  is  not 
to  blame,  and  he  has  tried  so  hard  to 
save  it !  He  worked  every  day  after 


ONE  MORE  EFFORT. 

Mr.  Cornforth  went  away,  living  out 
there  alone  —  though  we  wanted  him  to 
stay  with  us  —  because  he  thought  he 
ought  to  be  doing  everything  he  could 
in  the  mine.  He  said  his  work  would 
count  for  half  as  much  as  a  man's,  and 
he  hoped  Mr.  Cornforth  would  get  back 
in  time  to  finish  the  rest.  But  he  grew 
more  anxious  after  that  strike  in  the 
Nonesuch,  and  felt  that  he  must  have 
some  one  to  help  him." 

She  dropped  her  eyes  at  the  mention 
of  the  Nonesuch,  blushing  in  spite  of 
herself. 

"  I  suppose  he  thought  that  /  might 
relocate  the  M.  M.  C.,"  said  Mr.  Dray- 
ton,  coolly.  "  Well,  I  should  be  likely 
enough  to  do  so  if  the  owner  abandoned 
it.  It  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  my 
property,  and  whether  there  is  anything 
in  it  or  not,  it  might  be  worth  my  while 
to  hold  it." 


2O6  THE  M.  M.   C. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  Alice.  "  I  know  that. 
But  I  thought  if  you  understood  every- 
thing, you  would  rather  not  have  it." 

He  looked  uncomfortable  for  a  mo- 
ment. She  had  said  a  word  now  that 
somehow  embarrassed  him.  She  did  not 
realize  it,  but  went  on  more  earnestly 
than  before,  her  voice  gathering  the  ring 
of  a  deeper  and  truer  appeal. 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Drayton,  it  would  be  so 
hard  for  Lex  to  see  it  lost  after  all  he 
has  done  !  He  worked  there  so  steadily, 
denying  himself  every  pleasure,  and  then 
he  took  that  terrible  journey  to  the 
Lonely,  though  he  must  have  known 
all  the  danger.  He  never  turned  from 
his  purpose  for  one  moment,  only  when 
he  tried  to  get  help  for  the  men  who 
were  lost  in  the  slide.  And  now  he  is 
hurt  and  can  do  nothing  more.  He 
may  have  to  stay  out  there  for  weeks. 
It  is  the  hardest  thing  that  could  have 


ONE  MORE  EFFORT.  2QJ 

come  to  him.  Oh,  I  can  think  just  how 
he  feels,  shut  up  there  with  his  pain,  held 
back  from  all  that  he  was  so  anxious  to 
do !  It  must  seem  to  him  as  if  all  the 
world  had  gone  against  him,  and  there 
was  no  use  in  trying.  It  will  hurt  him 
all  his  life  —  a  failure  like  this,  and  he 
is  so  young  and  brave ! " 

Mr.  Drayton  was  moved.  He  valued 
courage  and  energy,  —  no  man  more 
highly  than  he,  —  and  little  as  he  felt 
disposed  to  sympathize  with  Eben  Corn- 
forth  in  a  loss  which  his  own  prudence 
might  have  prevented,  he  felt  sincerely 
sorry  for  the  boy.  His  voice  gave  no 
sign  of  relenting,  however,  when  he 
said, — 

"  But,  Miss  Hildreth,  if  I  should  make 
no  effort  to  secure  the  M.  M.  C.,  there 
are  others  who  would  do  so.  My  fail- 
ing to  act  could  make  no  difference  in 
the  end  to  Cornforth." 


208  THE  M.  M.   C. 

"  Oh,  not  if  others  had  a  chance ! " 
cried  the  girl.  "  But  I  thought  you 
could  prevent  all  that.  I  thought  you 
could  find  some  men  who  would  finish 
the  work  for  Mr.  Cornforth,  and  surely 
no  one  could  take  it  away  from  him 
then? 

It  is  not  likely  that  Mr.  Dudleigh 
Dray  ton  had  ever  received  a  proposition 
in  his  life  which  surprised  him  as  much 
as  this.  For  a  moment  he  was  startled 
out  of  his  habitual  courtesy,  and  stared 
at  the  girl  as  if  doubting  whether  he 
had  really  understood  her. 

She  flushed  under  the  look,  then,  feel- 
ing that  she  had  omitted  an  important 
item,  said  quickly,  "  There  was  money 
at  Lex's  disposal  to  pay  for  all  the 
work." 

"  Oh,"  said  Mr.  Drayton,  recovering 
himself.  "  So  Cornforth  had  forethought 
enough  to  provide  that !  He  should 


ONE  MORE  EFFORT.  2OQ 

have  attended  to  the  business  of  secur- 
ing help  and  saved  the  boy  all  this 
anxiety." 

"Oh,  Mr.  Cornforth  didn't  leave  the 
money,"  cried  Alice,  roused  instantly  to 
the  old  prospector's  defence.  "  It  is 
from  a  friend  of  his." 

"A  friend!"  repeated  Mr.  Drayton. 
"  And  why  does  not  this  friend  take  the 
measures  which  you  have  suggested  to 
me  ? " 

A  flame  of  color  swept  over  the  girl's 
face  and  neck.  "  His  friend  is  not  — " 
she  began,  but  her  voice  broke.  Under 
the  scrutiny  of  those  keen  gray  eyes 
she  could  not  finish  the  sentence  as  she 
had  intended.  With  a  rushing  humiliat- 
ing sense  of  her  own  helplessness,  she 
cried,  "  His  friend  is  not  of  much  ac- 
count ! "  and  hid  her  burning  face  in 
both  her  hands. 

If    she    had    looked    at    Mr.    Drayton 


210  THE  M.  M.  C. 

instead,  she  would  have  seen  at  that 
instant  a  wave  of  new  intelligence  sweep 
over  his  face,  and  then  a  sudden  break- 
ing up  of  all  its  sternness.  When  she 
lifted  hers  a  moment  later,  she  did  not 
see  it,  for  he  had  turned  away.  He  was 
standing  before  a  window  apparently  quite 
unconscious  of  her  presence.  She  choked 
down  a  sob  and  rose  from  her  seat.  She 
had  disclosed  a  part  of  her  story  which 
she  had  meant  to  keep  a  secret,  and  she 
had  broken  down.  There  was  nothing 
for  her  now  but  to  escape  as  decently 
as  she  could  from  the  scene  of  her  failure. 
She  only  waited  for  Mr.  Drayton  to  turn. 
But  he  did  not  turn  at  once.  Man 
of  the  world  as  he  was,  it  needed  a  few 
minutes  to  adjust  himself  to  the  feeling 
which  had  come  over  him.  He  had  not 
changed  his  opinion  as  to  his  right  to 
do  the  thing  he  had  intended,  nor  was 
he  smitten  with  self-reproaches.  But  the 


ONE  MORE  EFFORT.  211 

simplest  thing  in  the  world  had  happened. 
He  had  come  suddenly  face  to  face  with 
another's  generous  action,  and  it  stirred 
him  to  a  new,  unselfish  impulse.  He 
saw  it  all,  the  sacrifice  of  her  earnings, 
which  this  girl  had  offered  to  save  the 
old  man's  hope,  and  from  his  point  of 
view  the  sacrifice  seemed  vastly  greater 
than  it  ever  had  to  her.  For  a  moment 
his  own  rules  of  action  seemed  poor  and 
mean.  An  older  rule,  which  he  had 
almost  forgotten  in  the  rush  of  his  pros- 
perous life,  came  back  to  him,  and  the 
words,  "  Even  as  ye  would  that  men 
should  do  unto  you,"  sounded  in  his 
ears.  It  was  the  nobler  rule.  He  saw 
and  felt  it.  With  the  insight  of  the 
moment  he  obeyed  it. 

When  he  turned,  his  face  was  very 
grave,  but  there  was  something  in  it 
which  the  girl  had  never  seen  before. 

"  Eben   Cornforth  is  a  fortunate   man," 


212  THE  M.  M.   C. 

he  said.  "  He  could  have  no  better 
friend." 

He  looked  at  her  with  a  strange  gentle- 
ness for  a  moment;  then,  with  a  smile 
and  something  of  his  old  easy  manner, 
added,  "  We'll  see  what  we  can  do  in  this 
matter.  I  think  I  can  contrive  to  act  as 
Cornforth's  agent,  —  that  is  what  you  wish, 
I  believe,  —  and  set  some  men  to  finish 
his  work.  But  as  for  the  pay  —  please 
let  me  attend  to  that.  It  would  be  the 
better  way.  Cornforth  and  I  have  had 
dealings  before,  and  I'll  settle  with  him 
when  he  comes  back." 

The  tears  came  now.  There  was  no 
keeping  them  back,  nor  the  sob  with 
which  her  throat  was  full  at  that  moment. 
"  Oh,  you  are  very,  very  kind !  "  she  said, 
and  her  hand  went  out  to  him  now  with 
a  pleading  eagerness.  "  I  can't  tell  you 
how  much  I  thank  you,  and  oh,  they 
will  thank  you  even  more  than  I." 


ONE  MORE  EFFORT.  213 

"  No,  indeed,"  said  Mr.  Drayton,  hold- 
ing her  hand.  "  It  is  you  they  shall 
thank." 

She  was  gone  a  moment  later,  and  he 
was  alone  in  his  office.  But  the  figures 
on  his  desk  had  apparently  lost  their 
interest.  For  some  minutes  he  sat  ab- 
sorbed in  thought,  then  he  pushed  his 
papers  together  and  passed  out  to  the 
street. 


CHAPTER   X. 

AT    LAST. 

IT  seemed  to  Alice  Hildreth  that  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth  were  around 
her  when  she  stepped  out  of  Mr.  Drayton's 
office  on  that  never-to-be-forgotten  day. 
Even  the  mountains  had  lost  their  awful 
sternness,  and  with  the  sunshine  on  their 
brows  seemed  smiling  down  upon  the 
world  in  a  great  benignant  calmness. 
After  all,  Nature  was  not  cruel  nor  were 
men.  There  was  kindness  everywhere, 
and  hope  and  joy. 

In  the  midst  of  her  happiness  she  re- 
membered suddenly  that  Mrs.  St.  Cloud 
had  as  yet  no  share  in  the  gladness  of 
this  news  from  Lex,  and  ashamed  of  her 
own  forgetfulness,  she  quickened  her 
214 


AT  LAST.  215 

steps  and  hurried  back  to  the  cottage. 
She  found  Mrs.  St.  Cloud  in  the  sitting- 
room  with  Tommy,  surrounded  by  build- 
ing-blocks, and  giving  her  attention  rather 
impatiently  to  the  extensive  constructions 
with  which  the  young  architect  was  cover- 
ing the  carpet. 

"  Oh,  Tommy,"  she  was  saying,  as  the 
girl  burst  into  the  room,  "don't  let's 
make  any  more  of  those  horrid  smelters 
and  ore-houses.  Let's  build  a  meeting- 
house with  a  big,  high  steeple,  such  as 
they  have  back  East." 

Whether  Tommy  would  have  taken 
kindly  to  the  suggestion  is  doubtful,  but 
the  sight  of  Alice's  radiant  face  at  that 
moment  gave  sudden  pause  to  his 
mother's  interest  in  his  affairs.  "  Has 
Lex  come  ? "  she  cried,  starting  towards 
the  girl,  while  her  dress  swept  like  an 
avalanche  across  the  ruined  smelter. 

"  No ;    but    he    has    been    heard    from. 


2l6  THE  M.  M.   C. 

He  is  safe,"  gasped  Alice.  She  told  the 
story  as  fast  as  her  half-breathless  state 
would  allow,  and  even  the  exasperated 
Tommy  forgot  his  grievances,  and  de- 
molished the  last  of  his  promising  young 
mining-plant  with  a  flying  somersault 
when  she  had  ended.  As  for  Mrs.  St. 
Cloud,  she  hugged  the  girl  in  an  ecstasy, 
while  she  protested  between  cries  of  joy 
that  it  was  almost  too  good  to  be  true. 

But  there  was  one  point  on  which, 
as  her  feelings  settled  to  a  calmer  state, 
she  was  not  quite  satisfied,  and  indeed 
she  felt  that  she  had  some  grounds  of 
complaint  against  Alice  herself.  This 
was  the  fact  that  Lex  Flemming's  mes- 
senger had  been  allowed  to  come  to 
the  cottage  and  go  away  again  unknown 
to  herself. 

"  I  shouldn't  have  thought  you  would 
have  let  that  man  get  away  without  my 
seeing  him,"  she  said  reproachfully.  "  I 


AT  LAST.  217 

don't  suppose  he  knows  a  thing  about 
taking  care  of  a  sprain,  or  has  a  bandage 
in  his  cabin.  I'd  have  given  him  a  roll 
of  my  linen,  and  told  him  just  how  to  man- 
age. I  declare,  Alice,  I  wonder  at  you." 

But  Mrs.  St.  Cloud  was  not  to  be 
cheated  of  her  kindly  service.  It  was 
not  too  late  for  it  now;  and  she  at  once 
set  about  making  the  bandages,  to  which 
she  added  a  pair  of  her  husband's  softest 
hose  and  a  bottle  of  liniment.  To  these 
Alice  further  added  a  note,  and  "  Gulli- 
ver's Travels,"  a  gift  which  she  felt  sure 
would  be  a  boon  to  the  boy  during  the 
days  of  his  enforced  idleness. 

Provided  with  these  things,  the  two 
started  out  to  find  the  bearer  of  the  day's 
great  news,  but  they  were  too  late  to  find 
him  at  the  school-house.  The  brief  ser- 
vice was  already  over,  and  he  had  taken 
his  place  in  the  funeral  train  which  was 
moving  through  the  camp. 


2l8  THE  M.  M.   C. 

A  weird  spectacle  it  was.  A  dozen 
miners  drew  the  rough  coffins  containing 
the  bodies  of  their  unfortunate  comrades 
on  a  hand-sled,  towards  the  hollow  among 
the  hills  which  had  been  set  apart  as  a 
burial  ground.  There  were  no  symbols  of 
mourning.  In  their  working-clothes,  and 
mounted  on  snow-shoes,  the  bearers  moved 
steadily  on,  followed  by  a  score  or  more  of 
people  from  the  camp. 

To  Alice,  at  least,  there  was  an  inex- 
pressible pathos  in  the  scene,  and  she 
watched  it  with  eyes  full  of  tears  till  a 
bend  in  the  road  hid  it  from  view.  She 
had  not  known  these  men  for  whom  the 
camp  kept  its  moment  of  silence,  but  their 
lives  had  seemed  to  touch  hers  in  their 
strange  tragic  ending,  and  perhaps  the 
pitying  tenderness  with  which  her  heart 
mourned  their  fate  was  the  gentlest  tribute 
which  the  world  gave  them. 

Later  in  the  day,  when  the  cortege  had 


AT  LAST.  219 

returned,  Mrs.  St.  Cloud,  with  the  help  of 
her  husband,  found  the  man  she  was  so 
anxious  to  meet,  and  delivered  to  him  her 
package,  with  copious  instructions  as  to 
the  care  of  the  wounded  foot.  The  instruc- 
tions, however,  she  was  not  at  all  sure  he 
grasped.  He  seemed  to  her  a  remarkably 
stupid  person,  as  she  told  Alice  after- 
wards, and  she  declared  that  she  should 
not  be  surprised  if  he  did  just  the  oppo- 
site of  everything  she  told  him. 

But  Mrs.  St.  Cloud  did  the  owner  of  the 
Lady  Bird  scant  justice.  The  truth  was, 
at  the  time  she  met  him,  he  was  suffering 
from  a  partial  stupefaction  caused  by  an 
interview  he  had  just  had  with  Mr.  Dray- 
ton.  That  gentleman,  waylaying  him  on 
the  street,  had  questioned  him  about  the 
boy  he  had  left  in  his  cabin ;  after  which, 
in  the  most  explicit  manner,  he  had  bade 
him  tell  the  lad  that  he  knew  a  couple  of 
men  who  wanted  a  job,  and  he  would  see 


220  THE  M.  M.   C. 

that  they  were  at  once  employed  for  Eben 
Cornforth  on  the  work  in  the  M.  M.  C. 
He  added  with  emphasis  that  the  boy  was 
to  give  himself  no  further  anxiety  in  the 
matter,  and  walked  away  before  the  aston- 
ished miner  could  collect  his  faculties  for 
a  word  of  reply. 

The  subject  was  food  for  meditation  to 
him  on  his  way  home.  "  If-  it  don't  beat 
everything  !  "  he  muttered  to  himself  more 
than  once.  "  Put  what  the  girl  said  and 
what  he  said  together,  and  it's  enough  to 
make  a  man  think  he's  gone  '  over  the 
range '  without  knowing  it.  Maybe  the 
boy  can  see  through  it,  but  blame  me  if  I 
can  !  " 

And  the  owner  of  the  Lady  Bird  was 
not  the  only  one  who  found  it  hard  to 
understand  Mr.  Drayton's  action  in  this 
matter.  At  supper  that  night  Mr.  St. 
Cloud  remarked :  "  There's  an  odd  story 
afloat  about  Drayton  to-night.  They  say 


AT  LAST.  221 

he's  taken  a  couple  of  hands  off  the  None- 
such and  set  them  to  work  for  Cornforth 
in  the  M.  M.  C.  It's  a  new  departure  for 
him  —  if  there's  any  truth  in  it,"  he  added 
doubtfully. 

"  Oh,  it  must  be  true,"  cried  Alice, 
her  eyes  sparkling  with  a  sudden  delight 
in  the  news  he  had  given  her.  "  He 
told  me  this  morning  he  would  see  that 
the  work  was  done,  and  that's  just  the 
way  he  is  doing  it." 

The  piece  of  pie  which  was  on  its 
way  to  Mr.  St.  Cloud's  mouth  paused 
midway  in  its  passage.  "  Well,"  he  ex- 
claimed, "  this  is  interesting.  I  should 
like  to  know  how  you  came  to  be  talk- 
ing with  Drayton  on  that  subject." 

"  Why,  I  went  to  him  on  purpose," 
said  Alice,  beginning  to  blush,  but  meet- 
ing his  look  without  flinching. 

Mr.  St.  Cloud  laid  down  the  piece  of 
pie  now,  and  looked  at  his  cousin  as  if 


222  THE  M.  M.   C. 

he  were  not  quite  sure  that  she  was  the 
same  person  who  ordinarily  sat  beside 
him  at  the  table.  For  a  moment  he 
seemed  to  have  no  words  at  his  com- 
mand. Then  he  asked  slowly,  "  Do  you 
happen  to  remember  the  arguments  you 
used  to  persuade  him  ?  " 

"  Oh,  it  wasn't  my  argument,  at  all," 
said  the  girl,  earnestly.  "  Nothing  I 
urged  seemed  to  affect  him  in  the 
least.  It's  just  because  he's  so  good 
and  generous." 

"  Humph  !  "  said  Mr.  St.  Cloud.  Per- 
haps he  found  her  apparent  uncon- 
sciousness of  having  done  anything 
remarkable  a  trifle  exasperating,  for  he 
asked  impressively :  "  Do  you  know,  Alice, 
that  going  to  Drayton  was  a  very  ex- 
traordinary move  on  your  part  ?  If  there 
was  any  man  in  Silvercrest  likely  to 
have  his  eye  on  that  particular  claim, 
it  was  Drayton  himself." 


AT  LAST.  223 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  knew  it,  and  Lex  knew 
it,  too,"  said  the  girl,  her  voice  growing 
a  little  unsteady.  "  It  was  that  which 
made  me  feel  I  must  go  to  him  for 
help.  Everything  else  had  failed  us. 
Lex  couldn't  do  anything  more,  and 
there  was  no  other  way  left.  Don't 
you  see  ? "  she  added  imploringly. 

Mr.  St.  Cloud  drew  his  hand  across 
his  forehead  as  if  he  suspected  himself 
of  being  under  some  hallucination.  "  No, 
I  don't  see,"  he  said,  after  a  moment 
"  You  say  everything  else  had  failed 
you.  What  does  all  this  mean  ?  Have 
you  and  Lex  been  in  league  together  ? " 

The  flush  had  faded  from  Alice's  face 
and  left  it  rather  pale,  but  she  did  not 
hesitate.  There  was  nothing  to  conceal, 
since  the  generous  action  she  intended 
had  been  undertaken  by  another. 

"Yes,  I  was  in  league  with  Lex,"  she 
said  quietly.  "  I  promised  him  the 


224  THE   M-  M-    C' 

money  to  pay  for  the  work,  if  he  could 
only  get  help." 

The  amazement  on  the  faces  of  her 
listeners  had  its  effect  now,  and  she 
added  hotly :  "  How  could  I  keep  my 
money  for  myself  when  he  needed  it  so 
much  ?  He  told  me  all  his  trouble  the 
night  he  was  here,  and  I  believe  it  would 
have  broken  my  heart  if  I  couldn't  have 
done  anything  to  help  him." 

Mr.  St.  Cloud's  ideas  were  evidently 
clearing.  "  Did  Drayton  know  of  this  ?  " 
he  asked,  with  his  own  voice  a  little 
shaky. 

Alice  dropped  her  head.  "Yes,"  she 
said ;  "  I  let  it  out  at  the  end,  though 
I  didn't  mean  to.  Somehow  he  looked 
at  me  so  that  I  couldn't  keep  anything 
back.  But  I'm  not  to  pay  the  money, 
after  all.  He  wouldn't  let  me.  He  said 
he  would  arrange  it  all  himself." 

Mr.  St.  Cloud  ate  the  piece  of  pie  now. 


AT  LAST.  22  S 

He  even  drank  his  coffee  before  he  spoke 
again.  Then  he  said  very  tenderly,  "  My 
dear  little  girl,  why  didn't  you  tell  me  of 
all  this  before?" 

"  Cousin  John,"  she  cried,  "  I  did  feel 
kind  of  guilty  not  to  tell  you,  and  if  I'd 
had  any  idea  of  the  trouble  that  would 
come  I  should  certainly  have  done  it.  I'm 
sure  now  it  would  have  been  the  better 
way,  and  I  came  within  an  inch  of  doing 
it  right  at  the  first.  But  the  truth  is  I 
was  afraid  to  tell  you.  I  knew  you  had 
no  patience  with  miners  who  left  their 
assessment  work  till  the  very  end  of  the 
year.  Besides,  after  I  promised  the  money, 
it  seemed  like  letting  my  left  hand  know 
what  my  right  hand  was  doing,  and  — " 

"  And  running  the  risk  of  getting  your 
right  hand  soundly  scolded  into  the  bar- 
gain, I  suspect,"  said  Mr.  St.  Cloud. 
"  Well,  my  dear,  I  should  very  likely  have 
done  it.  I'm  a  sterner  man  than  Drayton 


226  THE  M.  M.   C. 

—  a  good  deal  sterner."  And  the  genial 
head  of  the  house  squared  himself  in  his 
chair  and  tried  to  look  as  grim  as  possible. 
But  he  was  smiling  at  her,  with  some- 
thing suspiciously  like  pride  in  his  eyes 
the  very  next  moment. 

It  was  Mrs.  St.  Cloud  who  filled  the 
pause  that  followed  with  an  accent  of  gen- 
uine reproach  in  her  voice.  "  Well,"  she 
said,  "  I  suppose  it's  no  use  talking,  now 
that  things  have  come  out  as  they  have. 
But  it  was  tempting  Providence  all  the 
same,  and  I  must  say,  Alice,  that  I 
wouldn't,  for  all  the  world,  urge  on  a 
friend  of  mine  to  take  such  awful  risks  as 
Lex  Flemming  has.  All  the  gold  in  the 
country  isn't  worth  it." 

The  girl  winced,  and  Mr.  St.  Cloud 
said  gayly :  "  I  don't  believe  Alice  will  do 
it  again,  Kitty.  I'll  answer  for  it  that  she 
won't  spur  the  heroic  youths  of  Silvercrest 
to  their  own  destruction  any  more  this 


AT  LAST.  227 

season.  For  one  thing,  she  won't  have  a 
chance.  She's  booked  for  a  journey  very 
soon  now,  unless  all  signs  fail.  This  block- 
ade is  about  ended,  and  there'll  be  no 
keeping  her  after  that." 

And  Mr.  St.  Cloud  was  right.  There 
were  only  two  days  more  for  Alice  in  the 
mining  camp.  Then  she  took  her  place 
in  the  out-going  stage  coach,  and,  waving 
good  bye  to  the  friends  who  stood  sorrow- 
fully watching,  started  on  the  long-deferred 
journey.  There  was  but  one  unsatisfied 
wish  in  her  heart.  If  she  only  could  have 
seen  Lex  Flemming  once  more ! 

But  Lex  was  still  in  exile.  A  weary 
time  had  yet  to  pass  before  he  could  leave 
the  stranger's  cabin.  At  last,  paler  than 
he  had  ever  been  before,  and  limping  a 
little,  he  was  seen  one  day  in  the  street  of 
Silvercrest,  and  an  eager  crowd  gathered 
round  to  give  him  welcome.  Mr.  Drayton 
was  among  the  number,  and  when  the  rest 


228  THE  M.  M.  C. 

had  dropped  away,  he  led  the  boy  into  the 
office  where  Alice  Hildreth  had  plead  his 
cause  on  that  anxious  morning.  What 
passed  between  them  was  known  only  to 
the  two,  but  from  that  interview  Lex  came 
out,  sworn  in  the  depths  of  his  heart  to  a 
friendship  which  would  never  know  change 
again  for  the  man  whom  he  had  once 
longed  to  defeat  and  defy. 

For  Mr.  Drayton,  too,  the  hour  had  its 
meaning.  He  had  read  the  boy  like  an 
open  book  —  the  perfect  loyalty  of  his 
nature,  the  steadiness  of  purpose,  the 
power  of  quick,  resolute  action.  For  such 
a  boy  large  things  were  possible,  and  — 
the  thought  was  born  of  that  earlier  gener- 
osity —  he  should  have  help  in  winning 
them. 

There  was  no  reason  now  why  Lex 
should  return  to  his  lonely  life  at  the 
M.  M.  C.,  and  he  made  Mrs.  St.  Cloud 
happy  by  accepting  her  invitation  to  stay 


AT  LAST.  229 

in  her  house  till  the  old  prospector's  return. 
But  the  visit  did  not  prove  a  long  one. 
A  few  days  later  Eben  Cornforth  himself 
returned  to  the  camp.  He  had  lingered 
at  the  bedside  of  his  child  till  the  long, 
fierce  fever  was  broken,  too  much  ab- 
sorbed in  his  anxiety  for  her  to  take 
thought  or  care  for  the  work  he  had  so 
suddenly  left. 

That  night,  listening  in  the  firelight  of 
his  own  cabin,  the  old  man  heard  the 
story  of  all  that  had  so  strangely  passed 
in  his  absence,  and  never  had  any  other 
tale  stirred  him  like  that.  Sometimes  he 
interrupted  it  with  wondering  questions ; 
sometimes  he  walked  the  floor,  his  face 
quivering  with  emotion ;  and  more  than 
once  he  wiped  his  eyes  from  the  over- 
flowing tears. 

"  God  bless  you  both !  God  bless  the 
little  teacher !  "  he  said  brokenly  when  the 
tale  was  ended.  "  I  wish  I  could  have  seen 


23O  THE  M.    M.  C. 

her  just  once  more  to  thank  her  for  all 
she's  done.  But  we'll  do  it,  Lex,  my  boy, 
one  of  these  days.  We'll  go  back  to  the 
old  Bay  State  together,  you  and  I  and 
little  Mary,  and  then  we'll  see  her  and 
thank  her  with  something  more  than 
words." 

The  firelight  fell  upon  his  glowing  face. 
All  that  had  been  hard  and  disappointing 
in  the  past  dropped  far  behind  him,  and 
Hope  threw  her  light,  fairer  than  ever,  on 
his  forward  path. 

It  was  six  months  later,  just  half  a  year 
from  the  time  Alice  Hildreth  returned 
home,  that  she  received  on  the  same  day 
two  copies  of  The  Mountain  Blast.  On 
the  wrapper  of  one  was  Lex  Flemming's 
well-known  writing,  but  the  other  was 
addressed  in  a  rapid  business  hand  which 
she  did  not  remember  to  have  seen  before. 
She  opened  the  papers,  and  on  the  page 


AT  LAST.  231 

devoted  to  mining  news,  found  the  same 
paragraph  marked  in  each,  It  ran,  — 

"  Among  the  sales  of  the  week  we  note 
the  transfer  of  a  half  interest  in  the  M.  M. 
C.  from  Eben  Cornforth  to  Dudleigh 
Drayton.  Cornforth,  who  located  the 
claim  two  years  ago,  has  been  steadily 
pushing  the  development  since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  year,  and  has  uncovered  a  con- 
siderable body  of  ore,  of  sufficient  value  to 
warrant  Drayton  in  putting  some  capital 
into  it.  That  he  has  done  so  is  sufficient 
assurance  that  the  property  will  now  be 
worked  for  all  there  is  in  it.  We  con- 
gratulate both  parties  on  the  transaction, 
and  predict  a  future  for  the  M.  M.  C. 
which  will  make  it  necessary  to  change 
the  time-honored  title  of  the  senior 
partner  from  'Old  Hopeful'  to  'Old 
Successful.' " 

There  was  a  dancing  light  in  the  girl's 
eyes  as  she  laid  down  the  paper.  With  a 


232  THE  M.  M,    C. 

quick,  delighted  fancy  she  pictured  these 
two,  whose  interests  had  once  been  so 
opposed,  sharing  together  the  treasure  in 
the  M.  M.  C.  "Oh,  I'm  glad  he  got  it 
that  way  instead  of  the  other ! "  she  said 
to  herself,  thinking  of  Mr.  Drayton.  "  It'll 
be  worth  so  much  more  to  him." 

And  then  her  thoughts  turned  with  a 
deeper  gladness  to  the  old  prospector.  It 
was  sweet  to  believe  that  a  future  of  pros- 
perity was  unfolding  for  him ;  sweeter  still 
to  feel  that  she  herself  had  had  a  share  in 
bringing  it  about.  It  was  compensation 
out  of  all  measure  for  the  heartsick  days 
and  the  homesick  weeks  she  had  spent 
in  the  mining  camp  during  that  wintry 
blockade. 


W.  A.    Wilde  Company,  Publishers. 


RE  VOL  UTIONAR  Y  MAID.     A  Story  of  the  Mid- 
die  Period  of  the  War  for  Independence.     BY   AMY  E.   BLAN- 

CHARD.      321  pp.      Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  stirring  times  in  and  around  New  York  following  the  pulling  down  of  ths;  statue 
of  George  the  Third  by  the  famous  "  Liberty  Boys,"  brings  to  the  surface  the  patriotism 
of  the  young  heroine  of  the  story.  This  act  of  the  New  York  patriots  obliged  Kitty 
I)e  Witt  to  decide  whether  she  would  be  a  Tory  or  a  Revolutionary  maid,  and  a  patriot 
good  and  true  she  became.  Her  many  and  various  experiences  are  very  interestingly 
pictured,  making  this  a  happy  companion  book  to  "  A  Girl  of  "76." 


GOLDEN  TALISMAN.     BY  H.  PHELPS  WHIT- 

J.        MARSH.      300  pp.      Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  narrative  is  based  upon  the  adventures  of  a  young  Persian  noble,  who,  being 
forced  to  leave  his  own  country,  leads  an  army  against  the  mysterious  mountain  kingdom 
of  Kaffirias.  Though  defeated  and  taken  prisoner  by  the  enemy,  the  hero's  talisman 
saves  his  life  and,  later,  leads  him  into  kingly  favor. 

A  valuable  fund  of  information  regarding  the  various  plants,  woods,  and  animals 
which  furnish  the  world  with  perfume  is  happily  interwoven  into  the  story. 

rEAT  AND  HUCKLEBERRIES;  Dr.  North- 
more's  Daughters.  BY  CHARLOTTE  M.  VAILE.  336  pp. 
Cloth,  $1.50. 

Mrs.  Vaile  has  drawn  the  characters  for  her  new  book  from  the  Middle  West.  But 
as  the  two  girls  spent  their  summer  at  their  grandfather's  in  New  England,  a  capital 

¥-oundwork  is  furnished  Ifor  giving  the  local  color  of  both  sections  of  the  country, 
he  story  is  bright  and  spirited  and  the  two  girls  are  sure  to  find  their  place  among  the 
favorite  characters  in  fiction.    All  those  who  have  read  the  Orcutt  stones  will  welcome 
this  new  book  by  Mrs.  Vaile. 


W 


:fTH  PERR  Y  ON  LAKE  ERIE.    A  Tale  of  1812. 
BY  JAMES  OTIS.    307  pp.    Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  story  carries  the  reader  from  March  until  October  of  1813,  being  laid  on  Lake 
Erie,  detailing  the  work  of  the  gallant  Perry,  who  at  the  time  of  his  famous  naval  victory 
was  but  twenty-seven  years  of  age.  From  the  time  the  keels  of  the  vessels  which  be- 
came famous  were  laid  until  the  victory  was  won  which  made  Perry's  name  imperish- 
able, the  reader  is  kept  in  close  touch  with  all  that  concerned  Perry,  and  not  only  the 
main  facts  but  the  minor  details  of  the  story  are  historically  correct. 

Just  the  kind  of  historical  story  that  young  people  — boys  especially  — are  intensely 
interested  in. 


B 


ARE AR AS  HERITAGE;  or,  Young  Americans 
Among  the  Old  Italian  Masters.  BY  D.  L.  HOYT.  325  pp. 
Cloth,  $1.50. 

We  welcome  a  book  from  the  pen  of  Miss  Hoyt,  whose  foreign  travel  and  study 
has  made  possible  an  exceedingly  interesting  story,  into  which  has  been  interwoven 
much  instructive  and  valuable  information. 

With  a  desire  to  broaden  the  education  of  her  son  and  daughter  by  the  opportunities 
afforded  in  foreign  travel,  an  American  mother  takes  them  to  Italy,  and  the  author  in  a 
very  happy  strain  has  given  us  their  many  experiences.  Replete  with  numerous  illus- 
trations and  half-tones,  it  makes  a  handsome  and  attractive  volume. 

W.  A.    IVilde  Company,  Boston  and  Chicago, 

i 


IV.  A.    Wilde  Company,  Publishers. 


CTHE  QUEERS  RANGERS.     BY  CHARLES  LED  YARD 
J.      NORTON.    352  pp.     Cloth,  #1.50. 

The  thrilling  period  during  the  last  years  of  our  struggle  for  independence  forms  the 
groundwork  for  Colonel  Norton's  latest  work. 

The  intense  patriotism  which  prompted  our  young  men  to  do  and  dare  anything  for 
their  country  is  shown  in  the  exploits  of  the  three  young  heroes. 

By  enlisting  for  a  time  beneath  His  Majesty's  flag  they  were  able  to  give  much  valu- 
able information  to  the  colonial  cause. 

With  historical  truth  the  author  in  this,  his  latest  book,  has  happily  coupled  an  ex- 
ceedingly interesting  and  instructive  story. 

CT'HE  ROMANCE  OF  CONQUEST.     The   Story  of 

JL       American  Expansion  through  Arms  and  Diplomacy.     BY  WIL- 
LIAM E.  GRIFFIS.    312  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

In  concise  form  it  is  the  story  of  American  expansion  from  the  birth  of  the  nation  to 
the  present  day. 

The  reader  will  find  details  of  every  war.  Anecdote  enlivens  the  story  from  July  4, 
1776,  down  to  the  days  of  Dewey,  Sampson,  and  Schley,  and  of  Miles,  Merritt,  Shafter, 
and  Otis.  It  is  a  book  as  full  of  rapid  movement  as  a  novel. 

TI/HEN  BOSTON  BRA  VED  THE  KING.     A  Story 
rV       of  Tea-Party  Times.     BY  W.  E.  BARTON,  D.  D.     314  pp. 
Cloth,  $1.50. 

One  of  the  most  absorbing  stories  ol  the  Colonial-Revolutionary  period  published. 
The  author  is  perfectly  at  home  with  his  subject,  and  the  story  will  be  one  of  the  popu- 
lar books  of  the  year. 

"  Though  largely  a  story  of  boys  and  for  boys,  it  has  the  liveliest  interest  for  all 
classes  of  readers,  and  makes  a  strong  addition  to  Dr.  Barton's  already  notable  series 
of  historical  tales." —  Christian  Endeavor  World. 

"  It  is  a  pleasure  to  read  and  to  recommend  such  a  book  as  this.  In  fact,  we  must 
say  at  the  very  beginning,  that  Dr.  Barton  is  becoming  one  of  the  most  skilful  and  enjoy- 
able of  American  story-tellers.1' — Boston  Journal. 

iADET  STAND  ISH  OF  THE  ST.  L  O  UIS.  A  Story 
of  Our  Naval  Campaign  in  Cuban  Waters.  BY  WILLIAM 
DRYSDALE.  352  pp.  Cloth,  $1.50. 

A  strong,  stirring  story  of  brave  deeds  bravely  done.  A  vivid  picture  of  one  of  the 
most  interesting  and  eventful  periods  of  the  late  Spanish  War. 

"  It  is  what  the  boys  are  likely  to  call '  a  rattling  good  story.'  "  —  Cleveland  Plain 
Dealer. 

"  Mr.  Drysdale  has  drawn  an  effective  picture  of  the  recent  war  with  Spain  in  his  new 
book.  The  story  is  full  of  dash  and  fire  without  being  too  sensational."  —  Congre- 
gationalist. 

/I  DAUGHTER  OF  THE  WEST.    The  Story  of  an 
^.Z     American  Princess.     BY  EVELYN  RAYMOND.     347  pp.     Cloth, 

$!•  SO- 
Interesting,  wholesome,  and  admirable  in  every  way  is  Mrs.  Raymond's  latest  story 

for  girls.     Descriptions  of  California  life  are  one  of  the  fascinations  of  the  book. 

"  A  well-written  story  of  Western  life  and  adventure,  which  has  for  its  heroine  a 

brave,  high-minded  girl." —  Chronicle  Telegraph,  Pittsburg. 

"  Laid  among  the  broad  valleys  and  lofty  mountains  of  California  every  chapter  is 

crowded  full  of  most  interesting  experiences."— Christian  Endeavor  World. 

W.  A.    Wilde  Company,  Boston  and  Chicago. 
ii 


W.  A.    Wilde  Company,  Publishers. 


r 


War  of  the  Revolution  Series. 

By  Everett  T.  Tomlinson. 

HREE  COLONIAL  BOYS.     A  Story  of  the  Times 
of '76.     368pp.    Cloth,  $1.50. 

It  is  a  story  of  three  boys  who  were  drawn  into  the  events  of  the  times,  is  patriotic, 
excising,  clean,  and  healthful,  and  instructs  without  appearing  to.  The  heroes  are 
manly  boys,  and  no  objectionable  language  or  character  is  introduced.  The  lessons  of 
courage  and  patriotism  especially  will  be  appreciated  in  this  day.  —  Boston  Transcript. 

CT-'ffXEE   YOUNG  CONTINENTALS.     A   Story   of 
JL       the  American  Revolution.     364  pp.     Cloth,  $  1.50. 

This  story  is  historically  true.  It  is  the  best  kind  of  a  story  either  for  boys  or  girla, 
and  is  an  attractive  method  of  teaching  history. — Journal  of  Education,  Boston. 

TlfASHING TON'S  YOUNG  AIDS.     A  Story  of  the 
rr        New  Jersey  Campaign,  1776-1777.    391  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  book  has  enough  history  and  description  to  give  value  to  the  story  which  ought 
to  captivate  enterprising  boys.  —  Quarterly  Book  Review. 

The  historical  details  of  the  story  are  taken  from  old  records.  These  include 
accounts  of  the  life  on  the  prison  ships  and  prison  houses  of  New  York,  the  raids  of  the 
pine  robbers,  the  tempting  of  the  Hessians,  the  end  of  Fagan  and  his  band,  etc.  — 
Publisher's  Weekly. 

Few  boys'  stories  of  this  class  show  so  close  a  study  of  history  combined  with  such 
genial  story-telling  power.  —  The  Outlook. 

rWO   YOUNG  PATRIOTS.     A  Story  of  Burgoyne'* 
Invasion.     366pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  crucial  campaign  in  the  American  struggle  for  independence  came  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1777,  when  Gen.  John  Burgoyne  marched  from  Canada  to  cut  the  rebellious 
colonies  asunder  and  join  another  British  army  which  was  to  proceed  up  the  valley  of 
the  Hudson.  The  American  forces  were  brave,  hard  fighters,  and  they  worried  and 
harassed  the  British  and  finally  defeated  them.  The  history  of  this  campaign  is  ont 
of  great  interest  and  is  well  brought  out  in  the  Dart  which  the  "  two  young  patriots" 
took  in  the  events  which  led  up  to  the  surrender  of  General  Burgoyne  and  his  army. 

The  set  of  four  volumes  in  a  box,  $6.00. 


OUCCESS.     BY   ORISON   SWETT    MARDEN.    Author  of 

O  "Pushing  to  the  Front,"  "Architects  of  Fate,"  etc.  317  pp. 
Cloth,  $1.25. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  any  success  books  for  the  young  have  appeared  in  modem 
times  which  are  so  thoroughly  packed  from  lid  to  lid  with  stimulating,  uplifting,  and  in- 
spiring material  as  the  self-help  books  written  by  Orison  Swett  Marden.  There  is  not  a 
dry  paragraph  nor  a  single  line  of  useless  moralizing  in  any  of  his  books. 

To  stimulate,  inspire,  and  guide  is  the  mission  of  his  latest  book,  "  Success,"  and 
helpfulness  is  its  keynote.  Its  object  is  to  spur  the  perplexed  youth  to  act  the  Columbus 
to  his  own  undiscovered  possibilities ;  to  urge  him  not  to  wait  for  great  opportunities, 
but  to  seize  common  occasions  and  make  them  great,  for  he  cannot  tell  when  fate  may 
take  his  measure  for  a  higher  place. 

W.  A.    Wilde  Company,  Boston  and  Chicago. 
iii 


W.  A.    Wilde  Company,  Publishers. 


Brain  and  Brawn  Series. 

By  William  Drysdale. 

rHE   YOUNG  REPORTER.     A   Story   of   Printing 
House  Square.     300  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

I  commend  the  book  unreservedly.  —  Golden  Rule. 

"The  Young  Reporter"  is  a  rattling  book  for  boys.  — New  York  Recorder. 

The  best  boys'  book  I  ever  read.  —  Mr.  Phillips,  Critic  for  New  York  Times. 

rHE  FAST  MAIL.     A  Story  of  a  Train  Boy.    328  pp. 
Cloth,  $1.50. 

"  The  Fast  Mail "  is  one  of  the  very  best  American  books  for  boys  brought  out  this 
season.  Perhaps  there  could  be  no  better  confirmation  of  this  assertion  than  the  fact 
that  the  little  sons  of  the  present  writer  have  greedily  devoured  the  contents  of  the  vol- 
ume, and  are  anxious  to  know  how  soon  they  are  to  get  a  sequel.  —  The  Art  Amateur. 
Jfew  York. 

CTffE  BEACH  PATROL.     A  Story  of  the  Life-Saving 
-/       Service.     318  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  style  of  narrative  is  excellent,  the  lesson  inculcated  of  the  best,  and,  above  all, 
the  boys  and  girls  are  real.  —  New  York  Times. 

A  book  of  adventure  and  daring,  which  should  delight  as  well  as  stimulate  to  higher 
ideals  of  life  every  boy  who  is  so  happy  as  to  possess  it.  —  Examiner. 

It  is  a  strong  book  for  boys  and  young  men.  —  Buffalo  Commercial. 

rHE    YOUNG    SUPERCARGO.      A   Story   of   the 
Merchant  Marine.     352pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

Kit  Silburn  is  a  real  "  Brain  and  Brawn  "  boy,  full  of  sense  and  grit  and  sound 
good  qualities.  Determined  to  make  his  way  in  life,  and  with  no  influential  friends  to 
give  him  a  start,  he  does  a  deal  of  hard  work  between  the  evening  when  he  first  meets 
the  stanch  Captain  Griffith,  and  the  proud  day  when  he  becomes  purser  of  a  great 
ocean  steamship.  His  sea  adventures  are  mostly  on  shore;  but  whether  he  is  cleaning 
the  cabin  of  the  North  Cape,  or  landing  cargo  in  Yucatan,  or  hurrying  the  spongers 
and  fruitmen  of  Nassau,  or  exploring  London,  or  sight  seeing  with  a  disguised  prince 
m  Marseilles,  he  is  always  the  same  busy,  thoroughgoing,  manly  Kit.  Whether  or  not 
ke  has  a  father  alive  is  a  question  of  deep  interest  throughout  the  story ;  but  that  he 
has  a  loving  and  loyal  sister  is  plain  from  the  start. 

The  set  of  four  volumes  in  a  box,  $6.00. 


CiERAPH,    THE   LITTLE    VIOLINISTS.     BY  MRS. 
O     C,  V.  JAMIESON.    300  pp.    Cloth,  |i. 50. 

The  scene  of  the  story  is  the  French  quarter  of  New  Orleans,  and  charming  bits  of 
local  color  add  to  its  attractiveness.  —  The  Boston  Journal. 

Perhaps  the  most  charming  story  she  has  ever  written  is  that  which  describes  Seraph, 
the  little  violiniste.  —  Transcript,  Boston. 

W.  A.    Wilde  Company,  Boston  and  Chicago. 
iv 


W.  A.    Wilde  Company,  Publishers. 


Travel-Adventure  Series. 

/N  WILD  AFRICA.     Adventures  of  Two  Boys  in  the 
Sahara  Desert,  etc.    BY  THOS.  W.  KNOX.    325  pp.    Cloth,  $1.50. 

A  story  of  absorbing  interest.  — Boston  Journal. 

Our  young  people  will  pronounce  it  unusually  good.  — Albany  Argus. 

Col.  Knox  has  struck  a  popular  note  in  his  latest  volume.  —  Springfield  Republican. 

rHE  LAND  OF  THE  KANGAROO.  BY  THOS. 
W.  KNOX.  Adventures  of  Two  Boys  in  the  Great  Island  Con- 
tinent. 318  pp.  Cloth,  §1.50. 

His  descriptions  of  the  natural  history  and  botany  of  the  country  are  very  interest- 
teg.  —  Detroit  Free  Press. 

The  actual  truthfulness  of  the  book  needs  no  gloss  to  add  to  its  absorbing  interest. — 
The  Book  Buyer,  New  York. 

VER  THE  ANDES;  or,  Our  Boys  in  New  South 
America.  BY  HEZEKIAH  BuiTERWORTH.  368  pp.  Cloth, 
$1.50. 

No  writer  of  the  present  century  has  done  more  and  better  service  than  Hezekiah 
Bntterworth  in  the  production  of  helpful  literature  for  the  young.  In  this  volume  he 
writes,  in  his  own  fascinating  way,  of  a  country  too  little  known  by  American  readers. — 
Christian  Work. 

Mr.  Butterworth  is  careful  of  his  historic  facts,  and  then  he  charmingly  interweaves 
his  quaint  stories,  legends,  and  patriotic  adventures  as  few  writers  can.  —  Chicago  Inter- 
Ocean. 

The  subject  is  an  inspiring  one,  and  Mr.  Bntterworth  has  done  full  justice  to  the 
high  ideals  which  have  inspired  the  men  of  South  America.  —  Religious  Telescope. 

OST  IN  NICARAGUA  ;  or,  The  Lands  of  the  Great 
Canal.  BY  HEZEKIAH  BUTTERWORTH.  295  pp.  Cloth,  $1.50. 


L 


nioiirijr  ui  uic  |MVJVM*  Mn    uic  HUMUf  duu    laciD    ai 

was  written  in  Costa  Rica.    It  enters  a  new  field. 


The  set  of  four  volumes  in  a  box,  $6.00. 


QUARTERDECK     AND      FOK'SLE.     BY    MOLLY 
ojy     ELLIOTT  SEA  WELL.     272  pp.    Cloth,  $1.25. 

Miss  Seawell  has  done  a  notable  work  for  the  young  people  of  our  country  in  her 
excellent  stories  of  naval  exploits.  They  are  of  the  kind  that  causes  the  reader,  no 
matter  whether  young  or  old,  to  thrill  with  pride  and  patriotism  at  the  deeds  of  daring 
•f  the  heroes  of  our  navy. 

W.  A.    Wilde  Company,  Boston  and  Chicago. 


A     000  1 24  548     9 


